It Wasn't That Long Ago
by Ygritte the Huntress
Summary: Alexis dies as a result of the train crash, leaving Ric alone with Molly and Kristina.  With most of the town still hating him, he turns to his only friend, Elizabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**_It Was Rewritten_**

Alexis dies as a result of the train crash, leaving Ric alone with Molly and Kristina. With most of the town still hating him, he turns to his only friend, Elizabeth.

Lucky and Elizabeth never got together after Cam was born, and Kristina's paternity was never revealed. Sam found out that Alexis was her mother instead and donated her baby's stem cells after she was born, healthy. Lila's paternity was never revealed either. So, Carly knows about Kristina, and Sonny knows about Lila, but they aren't telling. They're still together at the beginning of this fic, but Carly was in Roselawn due to all that happened, like on GH. Also, AJ had nothing to do with the kidnapping, it was all Faith. Faking Michael's death was just to fuck with Sonny's head. Reese Marshal doesn't exist. She sucked and served no purpose other than retconing a huge chunk of Carly's backstory into total garbage and heaping shit onto her character where there didn't need to be any. Carly has plenty of personality flaws, no need to add nonsense to it. AJ is living back In PC after returning the money he stole, with interest, and getting the charges against him dropped. The whole thing with Diego messing with girls and going to jail ain't happening either. There are other things that are different, because of these things. It should all make sense. If it doesn't or you just want more details, review and I'll answer.

This starts very early November of 2005, so Kristina is about to turn 3, Cameron is 1 1/2, and Lila is about to turn 1

I realize that this is dumb, but I miss Ric, and I miss Liric, so I'm working out some issues. This is from multiple points of view. It's more of a family focus than a straight romance.

I do not own General Hospital or any of the characters of that show. This is only for entertainment, no profit is solicited, expected or accepted.

**_Chapter 1_**

Ric was numb. It was weird that this was the most emotional day of his life, and he was numb. He knew what he should be feeling: a mixture of joy, dread, pain, loss, confusion… But none of that registered.

She was fine. That's what kept running on a loop through his mind. After the C-Section and all of the risks of that, she had seemed fine when they put her in the ambulance. Nikolas and Courtney had taken baby Molly out earlier and she was at GH, healthy. Everything was fine.

But then it wasn't. By the time the ambulance reached GH Alexis was already coding, and not long after that she was gone. Everything was fine, and just a blink later it was over.

He had been a father for only a day (2 if you counted his adoption of Kristina that had gone through the day before) and he had already failed irreparably. What would Alexis's girls do without her? Poor Molly wouldn't even know what she was missing out on, but Kristina was so close to her mommy, and Sam leaned on her so much since they found out that they were mother and daughter. Lila would never know the way her Nana rocked her to sleep and sang her lullabies in 3 languages. How was he going to be there for Alexis' girls when he was falling apart himself?

It was eerie how Alexis has seemed to know that something bad was going to happen. She had assumed that one day Helena would finally come after her and that everything had to be in order to protect her children. She never thought it would happen like this. She had been adamant that he be Kristina's legal father before the new baby came. It had taken a lot of work to convince Ned that he had to sign away all of his rights and settle for visitation. Ric still wasn't sure how she had done it, but he knew that she had made it possible for Krissy to stay with him and the new baby if something happened to her mother. And he couldn't express how much he needed that little girl to be there every day. Plus, now that the time limit for contesting paternity had passed, Sonny had no legal way of getting to Kristina, even if he did find out the truth.

Now he was standing here trying to figure out how he could possibly live up to what she expected of him. How he could be what they needed him to be.

Elizabeth stood outside the hospital nursery and watched. Ric was just staring through the glass at his newborn daughter. He was broken again, and she still couldn't fix him.

Her shift had just ended when the news about the crash had come in. She and quite a few others had volunteered to stay and help with the triage. She had been surprised when Nikolas came in with a newborn. When he told her what had happened her stomach fell. Ric was still down there with his wife, anything could happen. She was shocked at the depth of her reaction to the whole situation. She had thought that her feelings for Ric were behind her, that they were just casual friends at most now. Not long after that her relief at seeing Ric alive and well was crushed by the reality of Alexis's situation.

She knew better than anyone else what was going on in her ex-husband's head. She knew the way that he though. He would blame himself for being on the train in the first place. He would blame God for punishing his helpless little girls. But mostly he would blame Sonny. He would blame him for bringing Manny Ruiz and his sickness into their lives. He would blame Sonny for Molly and Kristina losing their mother, the same way that Ric had lost his. She could see it so much more clearly than she had way back when she had miscarried their baby. Then she had been lost in her own pain and she had ignored all the signs that something was terribly wrong. She had confessed that to Alexis the night that Faith Rosco had been murdered.

Elizabeth wiped away a stray tear and straightened her shoulders. This time she wasn't in her own hell, this time she could help him, ground him, and help him focus on what was important. She did the only thing that she could for him at that moment. She walked over to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"It'll be ok Ric. Eventually it will be ok. And I'll be there for you until it is."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

"What do you mean she's not coming home with us?" Edward Quartermaine shouted at his grandson just minutes after Alexis Davis Lansing's burial. "That man has no business raising a member of our family. It's bad enough that his mobster brother stole little Michael right out from under us. I won't have it!"

Alan and AJ walked up behind Edward and forcibly removed him from the grave site. He blustered all the way to the waiting limo, but did get in and return to the mansion. Emily, Monica and Skye however remained and waited for Ned to give them any kind of answer.

"Well?" Skye asked.

Ned sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. It had been a long and emotionally draining day. He looked across to Ric, who was staring at the grave morosely with his ex-wife and only friend, Elizabeth Webber, holding his hand loosely. "Alexis came to me months ago, a few days after Faith Rosco's murder, and asked me to allow Ric to adopt Kristina." He looked at the shocked and dismayed faces of his family. "She was worried that Helena would come after her again. She wanted to be sure that her children wouldn't be split up if something happened to her. I haven't seen much of Kristina lately, and Ric has been a huge influence on her life. She calls him Daddy Ric. Alexis was right, taking her away from her home and the people she counts on would be cruel. It's going to be hard enough on her losing her mother this way. She's not old enough to really understand what is going on. Nobody expected things to go this way. It was a worst case scenario kind of plan."

"That's well and good, but adoption?" Monica asked, still taken aback.

Ned gave her a grim smile. "That's mostly to keep Edward from trying anything. He has no issue traumatizing Kristina as long as he gets her back under his roof. We were protecting our daughter. I'm still her daddy, I still get visitation and we had her name officially changed to Kristina Ashton Lansing."

"What's to keep Ric from cutting you out of her life? I still can't believe that you agreed to something like this. Especially when it's Ric Lansing. Don't you understand how-" Emily shook her head. Sonny had informed her at length just how twisted Ric was. She couldn't fathom how Elizabeth could be anywhere near him after what he had done to her. She was slightly sickened by the sight of them huddled together.

Ned sighed again. "Look, this wasn't a spur of the moment decision. We all want what's best for Krissy, and Alexis, Ric and I agreed that this is best for her. Alexis would never have even suggested it if she didn't trust Ric with our daughter, and I trust her." He looked pointedly at Skye. "Kristina was the most important thing in Alexis's life, as was Molly. If she doubted Ric for an instant, he wouldn't be anywhere near either of her children."

Skye nodded in understanding. Alexis had gone to great lengths to protect Kristina from her biological father. "Alright, but at least tell me you got this visitation in writing."

"Yes, in writing, notarized, filed at the courthouse, legally binding."

Emily frowned. "And where is Kristina? Ric could have – "

Ned cut her off. "Ric and I spoke this morning. Neither of us wanted her here, so she is staying with Dillon, Brook and Georgie. They all went to the lake house to look after Molly, Kristina, Lila and Elizabeth's son Cameron, since all of their parents are here."

Sam was across the grave from Ric, crying, while Jason held her close. Jason was staring at Ric and Elizabeth over the top of her head.

"All of the family is invited to Kristina's birthday party in a couple of weeks. Ric asked me to let you know. He's not thrilled about dealing with Edward right now, but he wants to do it for Krissy."

Samantha Morgan pulled herself away from Jason and turned to regard her stepfather. If it was at all possible, he seemed to be even more crushed by her mother's death than she was. Even though Alexis had only been her mother for a year, they shared a deep bond. It was Alexis, and even Ric, who she looked to for assurance when Jason was working. They were Lila's babysitters, the only grandparents that she would ever be really close to.

Ric and Alexis had been married all of 4 days when Sam found out that Alexis was her biological mother, and that she had a sister who was dying. She still didn't know why Danny had made it a point to mention that she hadn't come from her mother's belly, like he and the new baby were. It was a shock, but it turned out to be a blessing. She worked with Ric and Alexis to find a donor as much as she could. She spent hours with Alexis, or Ric, or both, at Kristina's bedside. Finally, as it came down to the wire, Dr. Webber approached her about inducing labor a couple of weeks early and donating stem cells. She hesitated, afraid that something would happen to Lila, but in the end she agreed.

Tomorrow would be the anniversary of that decision. Lila's first birthday would mark the anniversary of Kristina being healthy, and Alexis wouldn't be there. She wouldn't be there for Krissy's birthday 2 weeks away, or for any of Molly's firsts, beyond her first breaths. Her heart hurt for her little sisters.

She felt Jason tense, as Elizabeth pulled Ric away from the grave-site and whispered something to him, and fought back a sigh. Of course she knew how Jason felt about Ric and the things he had done. She had heard endless tirades from Sonny, Carly, and even Michael once, on how evil he was. Even with all he did to help find Michael and Morgan when they were kidnapped. She could understand their feelings, but she didn't share them. He had never been anything but kind to her, even before he knew she was his stepdaughter. Most importantly though, he loved her sister and her daughter as if they were born into his family. Jason strongly disliked Ric spending time with Lila, but Sam encouraged it. He was her uncle after all, even if no one ever knew it. Besides, Elizabeth, one of his primary victims, had become good friends with him in the last few years. If she could forgive, Sam didn't see holding a grudge herself.

Sam saw Liz pull Nikolas into a hug. He was broken. Alexis had been his last remaining parental figure. With Stefan gone and Laura locked inside her own mind, Alexis had been his rock.

Alexis had been vital to so many people. How would they go on without her?

Nikolas watched Liz pull Ric in his direction. He moved away from where Courtney and Lucky were standing. They both despised Ric and Courtney didn't have much nice to say about Liz either.

"Nikolas, I'm so sorry." Liz said as she hugged him.

"Thank you." He said, and then whispered to her, "How's Ric? And Krissy?"

She whispered back, "He isn't talking much. He's in shock, and he's scared about the girls." Then in a louder voice, "Krissy is OK, she doesn't know exactly what's going on, just that mommy isn't there. It's going to take some time."

Nikolas was incredibly grateful to Liz for helping Ric through this. Neither he nor Sam were in any condition to help anyone, and Liz was the only other person he knew who liked the man. Not that he and Ric were terribly close, but they were on friendly terms, unlike most everyone else.

In his peripheral vision he saw Courtney moving in Ric's direction. He knew exactly what she was going to say. She was convinced that Ric should turn Molly over to either Sam or himself to raise. Since it was assumed that Kristina would be going back to live with Ned, she thought it would be easier to convince him that he couldn't raise a newborn. She had even mentioned the idea of Sonny and Carly raising her, but knew that it would never fly. He took a couple steps and grabbed her hand with his. When she looked at him questioningly, he shook his head at her. This was not the time or the place to have the argument she was about to start and nobody here was in the right frame of mind to deal with it.

After Courtney frowned and turned away, Nik walked over to Ric and Sam, who had just joined him.

"- want you to bring both of the girls over and Kristina to spend the night. It will give you some time with Molly, and keep Krissy distracted." Sam was saying.

Ric nodded. "We'll be there." He saw Nik and spoke to them both. "Alexis, she loved you two… so much. You were just as important to her as Kristina and the baby. She was so happy to have you both close to her. To see you every day."

Nikolas nodded and Sam brushed away a few tears.

Ric cleared his throat. "Justus Ward has Alexis' will. He is going to be here the day after tomorrow, for the reading. We're doing it at 2, at the house. Sam, you can bring Kristina home then if you want. You both need to be there." He turned to where Liz was speaking with Lucky. "You too Elizabeth. Alexis left something for Cam." He paused. "I spoke to Ned and Jax already, but I don't know where to find Luke Spencer."

"I'll tell him." Lucky grudgingly offered.

Ric didn't say anything for a few moments, and then he said. "I should go home."

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "Better relieve the babysitters. Georgie is the only one that's ever done it before and a newborn and three toddlers is a lot to handle."

Sam nodded and walked over to Jason to let him know she was going.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

Time seemed to move like lightning for Ric after that day.

Lila's birthday was tense and a bit sad for everyone. Jason had been civil enough, but Kristina noticed and they had a hard time explaining to the little girl why Jason didn't like Daddy Ric. In the end Ric had taken her home early and Sam had ripped Jason a new one for his behavior.

The reading of the will was excruciating. Alexis had prepared a video will two days before she died, the same day that the adoption went through. Watching her smile into the camera and rub her pregnant belly had half the room in tears. That was when everybody but the Quartermaines found out about the adoption. There were various reactions, none of them entirely thrilled. Thankfully a lot of the negativity seemed to be directed at how the Quartermaines would react to it, and Courtney was the only one to get nasty about it.

There were a few personal items bequeathed to friends and family alike, but the only money not left to Ric for the care of her children was a small trust for Molly, Kristina, Lila and Cameron so that they were all guaranteed the chance for college. She explained how important it was for Zander's baby boy to have that. She had seen him as a kind of surrogate son and wanted to honor that connection.

Kristina's birthday went just a little better than Lila's. Jason wasn't there, but Edward was. He, however, managed to hide his disdain from his great granddaughter. Elizabeth was nice enough to act as a buffer between Ric and the family. Emily came for a while, but left in a huff when Nikolas and Courtney showed up. She was still extremely bitter about their affair and the breakup of her marriage. Everyone would have understood that, but they were all pretty sure she had been sleeping with Sonny while his wife was being treated for a breakdown. Jax was almost at the point of leaving as well, but Skye convinced him that it wasn't worth it. Courtney had walked out on him not that long ago and abandoned him and the baby that a surrogate was carrying for them. He had had to battle to convince the surrogate to go through with giving him the baby, even though he was now single. Skye had helped there as well; offering to raise the little girl as her own and helping to sooth the poor woman's fears. Jax was still pretty pissed about the whole thing, but he and Skye seemed to be getting close again.

The Lansing family skipped Thanksgiving all together. Ric didn't see much to be grateful for that year besides Molly being safe and healthy, so he and his daughters stayed home and had a quiet day for once. It was the first time that they had all been alone together at home since Molly was born.

By Christmas Ric felt that he was holding things together much better. Kristina only asked where her mommy was a couple of times that day, and that helped him. They opened the presents that Alexis had shopped for earlier in the year and they ate candy canes off of the tree for breakfast. After that they all went and spent just a little while at Sonny's, because Sam insisted that they come. Ric ducked out of there about as fast as he could manage. Tension was high between Sonny and Carly and he, as about the only person aware of both the paternity secrets in that marriage, could see the explosion looming in the air. Carly seemed to have caught on to Sonny's changed relationship with Jason's sister, and Jason's extreme displeasure with his business partner.

Ric ended up taking Lila along with him to the Quartermaine's for Christmas dinner. Sam couldn't extract herself, or Jason, from the quicksand, but she could keep her daughter away from it. Luckily for Michael and Morgan, they left about the same time to go to the Spencer's family get together. Kristina and Lila had a blast playing with Brooke Lynn and Dillon got it all on film. It was probably one of the calmest family functions that the mansion had ever seen. Kristina's, and Lila's, presence seemed to go a long way to keeping Edward pacified about the whole custody arrangement. Ric also gave Ned a heads up about what could be going down across town.

Everyone braced themselves…. But nothing happened.

Until February, when the whole town exploded.

Ric answered his door with Molly crying in his arms. He smiled at the woman on the other side. "Hey."

Liz smiled back and reached for the baby. She placed her on her shoulder and rocked from side to side as she walked into the house. "What's the matter sweetheart? Oh dear, oh dear." She cooed at the little girl, who quieted slightly at the rocking. Liz kept it up and turned back to her friend. "I'm sorry I'm late, Nik and Lucky dragged me to the Quartermaines to try and convince Lulu to move in with Nik."

"Really? How did that go?" They both sat down and Liz adjusted Molly, who was now falling asleep, to her other shoulder.

"Well, Luke came home right before we showed up, and he brought Lulu a chimp. There was a lot of back and forth about Luke just leaving his teenage daughter with no parental guidance. Then Skye showed up with Lorenzo. Luke didn't really take the idea that Skye was dating him very well. Skye got defensive, Tracy got jealous. Not a lot of fun."

"I'll bet." Ric answered. Just then Viola came in with Cameron and Kristina behind her. "Cam, mommy's here to get you." He laughed as the little boy smiled and crawled up onto the couch between him and Liz. "So, what was the verdict?"

Liz kissed Cam's head. "She's staying put. I can't blame her really. I was the one who encouraged her to live with Luke in the first place, and I don't think things would be any better with Nik right now. He's been a real mess since Courtney left town. He keeps accusing Jax of driving her away. And since she hasn't done a paternity test yet, he doesn't know if the baby she is carrying is his or not. At least at the mansion there are people around to look out for her. Alan, Monica, Skye, Tracy, Emily is there now, Ned's out in the Gatehouse, even AJ and Edward. Nik just has a creepy old house and some servants."

Ric picked up Kristina and sat her in his lap as Viola said good night and left for the day. "I think he may move soon. He mentioned how empty the place was the last time he came and saw the girls."

The two continued to chat for a few minutes while the kids played quietly on the couch and Molly slept.

Sam looked in through the French doors and spotted the cozy scene. She saw Elizabeth holding the baby and the toddlers relaxing on the couch with them. They looked like a family. Well, a family that hadn't ever heard of birth control. She almost laughed at that thought, except that Liz, Ric and birth control in the same thought had bad associations. She shook her head and knocked.

"Come in Sam!" Ric shouted from the couch.

Sam opened the door and entered the house with her daughter. "How did you know it was me?"

Kristina jumped off the couch and ran to her sister. "Sam!"

"Hi Krissy. How are you today?" Sam asked her as she handed Lila over to "Papa Ric" and knelt down to her sister. She picked her up and faced the other adults. "Really, how did you know?"

"You and Brooke Lynn are the only people I'm expecting, and she doesn't knock." Ric answered as he made faces at his granddaughter.

"She doesn't knock?" Liz asked.

"She has a key." Ric answered. Sam and Liz both gave him odd looks. "What? Oh come on. She spends more time here than at the gatehouse. She spends more nights here too. What?"

Liz shook her head. "I know that it's not anything…" She struggled for the right words.

"I think the word she's struggling not to use is gross." Sam interjected.

"Oh, come on!" Ric sounded offended.

"Right, well, I know that. The point is that some other people might not. Like her mother, who has been close with Sonny since birth. Not to mention that he is her godfather I think."

Ric rolled his eyes. "Look, I get what you are saying, but I'm not worried about it. Ned likes that Brooke spends so much time with the girls. It's easier for her to come over here more because of how chaotic the mansion can get and how much of it tends to spill over to the gatehouse when Edward knows that Kristina is over there. They descend like vultures. And Jason generally refuses to send Lila over there. The only reason she was there on Christmas was to get her away from Sonny's drama."

"I'm actually surprised he lets her near you." Liz admitted.

Sam sighed. "Well, I let him make decisions about his family and I make decisions about mine. He doesn't like it, but it's not his call. Speaking of." She stood from where she had been perched on the coffee table and put Kristina on the couch next to Cam who had pretty much fallen asleep with his head on his mother's lap. "Danny is coming in tomorrow night, and I need to get things ready. Thanks so much for watching Lila tonight Ric. Getting the guest room set up and doing the shopping and taking care of the things that Danny needs to have… It's so much easier when I don't have to worry about her. Plus Jason and I could use a night alone."

"I should get Cam home too. Thanks for giving him dinner." Liz handed a sleeping Molly over to her sister to place in her bassinet and gathered up her son. "I'll see you both later."

Sam kissed Lila's forehead and hugged Ric before she followed Liz out, leaving Ric playing with his girls.

The next night, the hospital was in chaos. Liz had been working in the ER when Lulu was brought in with what turned out to be a mutant strain of encephalitis. Then Skye was rushed in by Lorenzo Alcazar, Nik was brought in, and then Sam. Lucky was missing and presumed sick since he was symptomatic when he saw Emily and Nikolas earlier in the day. Just about every adult that she had had prolonged contact with in the last day was sick, but accounted for, except Ric.

She was worried about him. They hadn't talked since she picked up Cam the night before. She tried calling him, but he didn't answer his cell phone or the one at his house. She knew he would probably be home because his nanny only worked during the day and went home at night. That was one of the reasons that Brooke Ashton spent so much time there. She helped with the kids so that Ric could work after Viola went home.

With that in mind she went in search of a Quartermaine. She saw Monica first, but she was running around caring for the sick, and Liz didn't feel she could bother her with this. Eventually she got down to the coffee shop and pulled Dillon aside.

"Have you talked to Brooke today?" She asked, not quite able to cover the worry in her voice.

"No," he said, a bit confused by the question. "I haven't seen her since the house last…" He trailed off and his eyes widened in worry for his niece.

"Just give me her cell number, and I'll try to get ahold of her."

She got the number, thanked Dillon and made her way to the hall, which was relatively quiet.

When the phone finally picked up, it wasn't Brooke, it was Kristina. "Hi." she said in her cute little smiley voice. She sometimes played with cell phones and thought they were toys.

"Kristina? It's Lizzie. Where's Daddy Ric and Brookie?" Liz asked in a soft voice, this wasn't the first time that she had had to do this. Kristina liked calling her Lizzie and she was the only person in the world who she let do so.

"Sleepin'. Molly's crying, but they no wakin up."

Liz's panic rose and she ran to the ER hub while keeping Kristina on the phone. "Is Molly stinky? P U!" She asked to keep the toddler interested in the phone.

"She don't use the potty like me. I'm a big girl."

"That's right, you sure are." She flicked her gaze around until she spotted Robin's not dead father, who was running this zoo at the moment. She sprinted over to him and yanked his am hard to grab his attention. "Krissy, go try and wake up Daddy Ric and Brooke again, ok. Tickle their noses like I showed you."

The little girl giggled. "Ok Lizzie"

Robert Scorpio was looking at her like she was insane. She covered the receiver of her phone and looked at him with terrified eyes. "There's an adult male and a teenaged female down with what I think is the virus alone in a house with a toddler and an infant."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because the teenager is Brooke Ashton, she's a Quartermaine and was at the house last night before she went to see her little sister. Plus Samantha Morgan, who was already brought in, picked her daughter up from there earlier today. The baby is crying and Krissy can't get them to wake up. You need to get someone out there." She knew she sounded almost hysterical at this point, but she didn't care much.

"Brooke's sick?" Came a yell from behind them and they turned to see Tracy Quartermaine Spencer. "What's going on with my granddaughter? What about Kristina? And Lila? If Sam is sick is she sick too?"

"The little ones are fine as far as I know, and Lila is in the coffee shop with Dillon, but Brooke and Ric are sick, and they are out at that house alone with the babies." Liz really didn't know how to sugar coat the situation.

"Well, if the children aren't sick we can't bring them here. It's much too dangerous." Robert insisted.

Liz shook her head. "Look, they've already been exposed so they might still get sick, and their whole family is already here except Ric's brother – "

Tracy cut her off. "No, Sonny came in sick a little while ago. Carly and Michael brought him in."

Liz sighed and then Kristina's voice reappeared on her phone. "Didn't work Lizzie."

"It's ok Krissy, I'm sure they're just tired. Wanna say hi to grandma Tracy?" She handed off the phone and turned back to Robert again. "Just get them here and I'll get something set up for the kids. There are already 2 here that are related to them anyway."

Robert just nodded and went to work.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

Liz checked in with Nikolas quite a few times in the next hour. He was delirious and worried about where Lucky was. She and Emily had been looking for him in between all of their other work and concerns. Eventually they sent Jessie, who was outside the quarantine, to find his partner. They were all worried that he was alone or with other sick people, like Ric and Brooke. There hadn't been any word in a while, and all three of them were worried about their friend.

Emily was running around helping patients, checking in with Nikolas, and caring for Sonny, whose wife had disappeared from the hospital not long after they arrived. Liz was caring for Lulu, checking on Nikolas, helping patients, and generally trying not to think of why it was taking so long for them to bring in Ric. Eventually they rolled him in through the ER doors, barely conscious and rambling on about Kristina, Molly and Brooke. Ned Ashton ran into the room from the coffee shop asking similar questions just seconds later.

All three girls were brought in right behind Ric. Brooke was rolled in on a gurney and Kristina and Molly were both carried in crying by very uncomfortable paramedics. Ric and Brooke were rolled out to be cared for and Ned and Liz were left to calm the girls. Kristina was upset by what was happening and found relief in her father's arms, but Molly was hungry, had a dirty diaper, and was exhausted from crying.

"I had pediatrics set up a room for the kids near the coffee shop, they can't go up there and expose the other kids. Michael and Lila are already there with a nurse. Maybe you should stay with them Ned. They all know you, and this is going to be hard enough on them."

Ned nodded. "I can't do anything for Brooke right now anyway. I'll get Georgie too. She needs a distraction from worrying about Dillon." He seemed sad and resigned. So much of his family was is such danger, and there was nothing he could do about any of it.

"I'm sorry about Dillon, I didn't know." Liz said with a frown.

"Tracy went up to be with him. It's pretty bad. Between him, and Lulu, and Luke, and now Brooke… she's about to break. And I'm worried about Skye…. Luke feels responsible for everyone being sick, this must be killing him."

Liz just walked with him down to the kids' room in silence as she tried to calm Molly. She went ahead and changed and fed her before handing her off to Ned to rock to sleep as the other kids played together. Michael was barely restraining himself from running to check on his dad, and the only way Liz could get him to stay was to promise to call down from Sonny's room to keep him updated regularly. If he wasn't there, then he wouldn't know what was going on. And besides, if he left, his cousins would be upset. Michael may have hated Ric, but he loved to play with Kristina, and Lila was a lot of fun for a baby.

It was another two hours before she could check in with Ric again. By that time he was delirious and fighting to get out of his bed to get to his children. He was, unfortunately, sharing a room with Sonny at that point, so his agitation was at its peak.

"Where are my girls?" Ric asked groggily. "Alexis, where's Krissy?"

Liz's heart broke for him. Emily, on the other hand, was feeling vindictive. "Kristina is with her father, where she belongs." Emily didn't stick around to see Ric's violent reaction to that statement.

He yanked on his arms, which had previously been restrained for his protection. "No. Sonny, no, leave Krissy alone! Stay away from her! You can't have her, it's too late!"

Liz quickly turned her head to where Sonny was lying across the room. The man was unconscious. "No, Ric, Ned has Krissy. She's safe. Sonny can't get her." She whispered

He calmed dramatically. "Safe. Sonny can't get her. Promised Alexis. He can't get them. Krissy and Lila are safe." He fell unconscious and left Liz wondering. She wasn't sure what to think. Was he just muttering nonsense, or was he blurting secrets?

She made her way down to where the kids were being held and just watched them. Michael was rocking Molly and Krissy and Lila were playing with some toys nearby. The nurse was with them, but Ned and Georgie were nowhere in sight. She looked at the girls and scrutinized them for similarities. They were going to be somewhat similar, since Kristina was Lila's aunt, but she was looking for something closer. She saw it. The shape of their faces, their noses, so much like Sonny's, but not enough for anyone to really question unless they were looking for it.

She was still watching them when Ned came up behind her. "Is everything ok?" He asked in a weary voice.

"Just, checking on them. I can't see Cameron, and calling doesn't really make me feel better. Ric is so worried about them."

"How is he?"

"Delirious. He's sleeping now, but before, he was so out of it. He asked for Alexis and … He's sharing a room with Sonny right now, so even when he's coherent he's agitated. How are Brooke and Dillon?"

"Brooke is holding in there, but Dillon… I don't know what's going to happen. He, ah, he married Georgie a few minutes ago. He really doesn't think he's going to make it. Skye got the first dose of antidote and she feels so guilty about Lulu and him and even Brooke, and I can't make her feel better, no one can."


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

It was a harrowing, terrifying few days. By the time everything settled there were 100 local dead, including Tony Jones, Danny McCall, Courtney Mathews, Samantha Morgan and Viola Brown – Kristina and Molly's nanny.

Deaths weren't the only fallout of the virus. Carly Corinthos finally reached her breaking point in her marriage when she discovered that Sonny had been carrying on an affair with Emily Quartermaine while she was in Roselawn, and he still was. She exploded in the hospital room that he was sharing with Ric and blurted out that Kristina was his biological daughter. That Alexis had told her when they were trapped in the fire. That Ric was raising his little girl, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Sonny had been livid. He'd attacked Ric and had to be sedated. Ric was worried, so he asked Liz if she would take all of the kids to his house and stay with them for a while. The quarantine had been lifted, but most of the patients were stuck there until they regained their strength. Liz was off, and just visiting when it all went down, so she agreed. She went down to the kids room, where more kids had come and gone over the course of events, and found Carly and Jason sitting outside holding on to each other. Nikolas was also nearby, watching his cousins. She walked over to him and pulled him into a hard hug.

"How are you? How's the baby?" Courtney had given birth to a premature baby boy before succumbing to the virus. Blood type alone proved that he couldn't be Jax's. So now Nikolas was a single father, just like Ric and Jason both now were. She glanced over at Jason. He was very upset and she suspected that things would only get worse. Sonny didn't know that Sam was dead yet, and he might make noise about Lila once he did.

"I'm ok I guess." Nikolas answered her. "I, I was used to not having Courtney in my life. She left me a while ago, but her being dead… And Sam, I wasn't really as close to her as I should have been. I haven't spent enough time with any of my cousins. I feel like I wasted so much time. The baby is good. They said that he shouldn't need to stay here for more than a couple weeks. He's premature, but he's healthy. I need to pick a name for him though. I never expected to have to do it alone, or at all really. I always sort of thought that even if the baby was mine, I'd never get to raise him. "

Liz just nodded. She had never thought that Courtney would come back either.

"So many of us are raising our children alone now." Nikolas said as he stared into the room where all the healthy kids were playing. Even Morgan was there now, while Leticia helped Maxie and a pair of nurses handle things. Carly had asked her to drop off Morgan, but she had volunteered to help. "You, Ric, me, Jason. Too many people, too many parents, have died. Even my mother is as good as dead to the world." He was quiet for a few minutes as they stood there together and then he said. "Mathew. The baby's name is Mathew. Mathew Stefan Alexi Samuel Spencer Cassidine."

"That's a fine name Nikolas." Came the voice of Helena from behind them. "I don't particularly care for the Spencer, but I suppose it doesn't matter. You will be a good father, and you will raise your son to be a great man. I had thought to do so myself, but it seems I won't be able to." They turned to look at the somewhat sad look on the old woman's face. "I won't be around much longer my boy." She patted Nikolas on the face. "You are so like your uncle. Stefan really did raise you well." And she turned and walked away.

"What the hell was that?" Carly asked from where she sat nearby.

Nikolas shook his head. "I have no idea. Maybe time has finally caught up with the Cassidine Queen. I guess it would explain why she showed up with Courtney now, she was bringing my son back to me."

"Well, her timing sucked." Carly said sadly. Courtney had been her closest friend and she missed her terribly.

"Yes, it did. And, I'm not sure if that was an accident or not."

Liz took this opportunity to pull Jason aside. "Jason, I'm so sorry about Sam."

He just nodded.

"I know this is a really bad time, but Sonny, he doesn't know about Sam yet. And I think when he does… he may cause you some trouble."

Jason blinked at her. "How? How do you know?"

Liz sighed. "Ric was delirious and asking for Alexis and Kristina. Emily taunted him that she was with her father and he flipped out. He said he needed to keep her safe from Sonny, her and Lila; that he promised Alexis."

"He knew about Kristina?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Liz knew he didn't really care for Ric, at all, after everything with Carly and the panic room, so she tried to be sympathetic to the contempt on his face. "Look, I'm guessing that Sonny probably knows about Lila?" She figured that Jason would lie to Sonny about something like that. And he probably wouldn't deny Sonny his child without Sonny's approval.

He nodded. "We were protecting Carly and Michael. Sonny thought she would leave if she found out."

Liz let out a breath. "Well, I think that ship has sailed. Carly found out about him and Emily and she told him she was leaving. She also told him about Kristina being his and that there was no way he could get her now. So, I think Sonny may go after Lila instead."

Jason shook his head. "He can't. Ric talked Sam into doing everything right and legal with that. Said that it was better to do it above board, so there wouldn't be any wiggle room later. He's on the birth certificate, but he signed away his rights and I legally adopted Lila."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, Sam told me that Ric arranged it the same way he was arranging things for Cameron before…"

He didn't finish, he didn't have to. "Ok. I'm glad. I would hate for you to lose your daughter on top of everything else." She hugged him. "I really am sorry about Sam and Danny." She turned to leave before turning back to him. "Um, do you want me to take Lila to Ric's with Krissy and Molly?" She was suddenly struck with the fact that she only had one car seat in her car. Her grandmother was planning to drop Cameron off over there before she came to the hospital, and she had no idea how she was going to get the kids there in the first place.

Carly was the one to realize her problem first and she, surprisingly offered her help. "I'll call Max and have him go bring Ric's car over. Do you mind taking the boys with you? I had planned to take them home, but I think they are enjoying playing with their cousins right now and I have to deal with Sonny and figure out what I'm going to do. I know it's a lot to ask…"

Liz thought about it. It was going to be like a daycare with that many kids running around, but things were going to be very hard on them when they found out about Courtney and Sam. She saw Georgie passing down another hall and said. "Let me see if I can get the newest Quartermaine to help me out. Ok?" Carly nodded and pulled Jason back down to sit with her. Liz just assumed that it was ok to take Lila, since Jason hadn't actually said anything. She really hoped that he stuck with Sam's decision to let Lila spend time with Ric. It would be so easy to just do what he wanted, instead of following his wife's wishes.

"Hey Georgie!" she shouted at the young woman. Georgie stopped and smiled at her. "Hi, how's Dillon?"

"Hi Elizabeth. He's good. His mother just kicked me out of his room actually. I'm trying to find something to do to avoid going home. My parents think that now that Dillon's not dying, I should get an annulment. They're being pretty pushy about it actually."

Liz patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. I do have a good excuse for you though. I need some help with a large group of small children. I'm going to have all of Ric, Sonny and Jason's kids along with Cameron at Ric's house tonight. If they were a bit older it wouldn't be that hard, but most of them are still in diapers."

Georgie's smile brightened. "Sure, I love those guys. I'd be happy to help."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6_**

By some miracle they were able to caravan everyone from the hospital with ease. Max had Ric's car with car seats for Kristina and Molly, Liz drove her car with Morgan's car seat from Carly's car and Lila strapped into Cameron's, and Michael rode with Georgie, who it seemed he had a small crush on.

It took 3 hours and a lot of cajoling to get everyone settled for the night. Molly was easy enough to put down, but Lila, Morgan and Cameron fought it. Kristina ended up just falling asleep on the couch watching a movie with Michael, and he was now playing a game of war with Georgie at the table.

"Elizabeth," he asked a few minutes after he won the first game. "Why are you friends with Ric? Why don't you hate him like my parents do?"

Liz stopped picking up toys from the floor and went to sit down next to him. "Well," she said slowly, "why do you want to know? I know that you don't like him either."

He shrugged. "I just- Sam told me it was a lot of work to hate someone, and she really liked him." He frowned. "But Uncle Jason and Aunt Courtney and Mom and Dad all hate him. I was wondering who was right."

Liz leaned over and gave him a bit of a hug. He was the only one of the kids that understood that Sam and Courtney were gone. "It's complicated with grownups. Sometimes you can't forgive a person when they hurt you, and sometimes you can. It has a lot to do with how you feel about the person. It's a lot easier to forgive a stranger for things you never saw them do, or forgive someone you love, than it is to forgive someone you already don't like. It also depends on why they did whatever it is that they did. I know that Ric did bad things to your parents, especially your mom, but I also know that he was really sick when he took your mom. When our baby died, something in his mind broke."

"Like when mom got sick after me and Morgan got kidnapped?"

"Kind of. Our baby was so important to him. It was a new start in life. He thought your dad had pushed me down the stairs and killed the baby to hurt him. He was wrong, and he knows that now, but at the time Sonny was the person that I remembered being with me when it happened. There were things about your dad and Ric's past that made him think that your dad would deliberately do that."

'Like what?" Michael asked curiously.

Liz shook her head. "That's not my story to tell. You'll have to ask one of them. The point is, he was sick, but nobody saw that until it was too late. I could forgive Ric because I loved him and I knew that even though he hurt me, it was because he was sick and he still loved me. Your parents and you aunt and uncle already didn't like him because he did other things that they didn't like even before he got sick, and he didn't care about them. Sam could forgive him because he never did anything to her, and she didn't know him when it happened. And even though people like my friend Lucky didn't really know him, they can't forgive him because he hurt someone that they really love. And it's even way more complicated than that."

"That's really complicated." Michael said, a bit let down.

"It is. Everyone has different reasons for why they do and don't forgive someone. I forgave Ric because I really loved him. I can't tell you why other people feel the way they do."

"If you forgave Ric enough to marry him again, why didn't you stay together?" Georgie nearly spit the water she was drinking across the room at that question.

Liz was a bit taken aback by it as well, and she wasn't exactly sure how to answer. "Um, well, you know how, if you have the flu, sometime s you start to feel better, so you go play and you think everything is fine, but later you feel sick again?"

Michael nodded.

"It was kind of like that. Ric and I both thought that he was better and that he was ready to help me raise Cameron, but he wasn't really all better yet. And by the time he WAS better, he was involved with Alexis and then they got married."

"Wow…. That kinda sucks." Michael said with all the sympathy a 10 year old could muster.

Liz smiled at him. "Yeah, it kinda does. But Ric is my friend, and if he and Alexis hadn't gotten married, we wouldn't have Molly to play with."

"Am I allowed to forgive Ric, like you did? Cause I like playing with the babies."

Liz gave him a hug. "You can forgive whoever you want, but your parents get to decide who you spend time with."

Michael was quiet for a few minutes. He finished his game with Georgie and helped Liz tidy up while she put Kristina to bed. Cameron was laid out in the portable crib that was kept for when Lila came over. It had been set up in Ric's room, where Liz would be spending the night. Lila and Morgan were sharing a large playpen that Audrey had brought over when she dropped off Cam. That was set up in Molly's room. Michael would be sleeping on the couch, while Georgie took the guest room. The baby monitor in the living room would be moved to Georgie's room so she could help keep an ear out for the littlest ones. Once everything was settled, Georgie went to bed, leaving Liz to sit with Michael for a few moments before he had to go to sleep as well.

Just before she turned out the lights, Michael looked at her sadly. "A – a lot of bad things happened while everyone was sick, didn't they?"

Liz sat back down in the big chair by the couch, where Michael was already laying down. "Yeah, they did." She thought about all of the deaths, the revelations, the implosions of so many different relationships.

Courtney and Sam had died, leaving the men that they loved alone with their babies. Carly and Sonny had fallen apart for what seemed like the final time. Ric and Sonny had lost absolutely any chance they had at being brothers. Jason was almost certain to pull away from Sonny as well, when he inevitably sought custody of Lila. Skye Quartermaine would never be able to forgive Lorenzo Alcazar for switching her chart with Lulu's, nearly killing the girl. Robin and her not dead father, Georgie and the strain of her young marriage on the Scorpio and Quartermaine families…

The lives of so many were completely ripped apart, and nobody was left standing where they had been just days ago. Even Liz herself felt unsettled. Just that day, Lucky had asked her if she could maybe love him again someday. He had been so hopeful, and she had crushed him with her honest no. Emily had berated her for breaking his heart. She had encouraged Lucky in his affection, and she took the rejection personally. She wasn't entirely sure what to do about either of them. She knew that she couldn't see Lucky in a romantic way anymore. Could that maybe change someday down the line? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't hopeful. And Emily… Sonny was bringing out all of her poorer facets. Liz still loved her, but the longer she was around him, the less like Liz's best friend she became.

She opened her mouth to say something more, but saw that Michael was already fast asleep. Sighing, she turned out the light, checked the locks, and turned in for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7_**

Liz woke the next morning to a knock on the door. More precisely she woke when Michael ran in and told her that she needed to answer it. She was groggy and she didn't understand what he meant, or why he didn't answer it himself. That was until she went into the living room and saw who was standing outside the glass door.

"AJ? What are you doing here at 8am?"

"I'm here to pick up Kristina for Ned. He said that you would be expecting someone." He frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, I just thought that with three babies, you would be up by now."

Liz yawned. "More like five babies, a preteen and Georgie. I think the kids were just exhausted. Not a peep from any of them all night, not even Molly."

"So that was Michael that ran out of here?" he asked with an almost hopeful glint in his eyes. He rarely caught a glimpse of his son these days. He had mostly given up the idea of getting him back, but he loved to see him, even from afar.

"Yeah, he came to get me. I think Carly told him to never be alone in a room with you." She was sympathetic to his plight with the little boy, but it wasn't her place to get in the middle of it.

"Makes sense." He said with a hint of dark humor. "I can come back later if you want. Give you time to get things more settled."

Liz shook her head. "No, it's ok. Like I said, everyone but me and Michael are asleep, and Krissy's things are already packed up and waiting. You have a car seat right?"

He nodded. "I got Ned's car. Jamie's seat Isn't big enough."

His heart swelled at the thought of his small son. Not that long ago the thought of someone leaving a child in his care had been ludicrous, and rightfully so. He had been in a downward spin for so long that it seemed like he'd never see daylight again. But now he was finally whole. He had turned the money that he had stolen from the family into an enormous fortune. Enough to repay it with interest and still have over three times that much remaining. He had put his drinking behind him, leaving him now two full years sober. He had even been able to stay sober and calm when his grasping, greedy, cold, wife Lydia had tried to bleed him dry and leverage custody of their tiny son for money. Luckily the courts of the tropic paradise where they were living had a more archaic view of women who flaunted their lovers publicly to their husbands and offered to sell their child for a cut of his money. In the end she hadn't come away with anything more than her own inheritance and the gifts he'd given her over the years.

Liz smiled as she turned to lead him to Krissy's room. "How is little Alan James the third?" She had seen the little boy at the hospital daycare quite a few times in the last 6 month. He was a sweet tempered baby and the ladies loved him.

AJ laughed. "He's got Alice wrapped around his little finger so tightly that I think she's ready to switch jobs and be his nanny. It's rather tempting actually; she'd be a babysitter and bodyguard in one."

He stopped as he saw Michael loitering in the hall. Michael's expression was unreadable.

"You have a little boy?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, Jamie, he's 8 months old."

Michael hesitated. "Where is his mommy?"

AJ wasn't sure what to say to that. He didn't know what Michael had been told about him and the situation with his custody. He knew it hadn't been nice.

"Lydia lives in Switzerland."

"Did you steal him like you tried to do to me?"

AJ sighed. "No, the court said that Jamie was better off with me then her, and she hasn't tried to see him since."

He didn't respond directly to Michael's accusation about him. There was no point. At least Michael would never be able to accuse him of not wanting him.

Michael just nodded, his mind following generally the same thread. He knew that AJ wanted him, if nothing else and he didn't understand a mom just leaving her kid and never looking back. He looked up at Liz and said, "Cam's awake.", and went into the living room to watch cartoons.

AJ and Liz moved down the hall to the bedrooms. Liz picked up Cameron from Ric's room and knocked on Georgie's door.

Within seconds Georgie pulled open the door with a sleepy smile. "Hi AJ." She said with a bit of shock at seeing him.

"Morning cousin." He said with a smile back at her.

"Hey Georgie, sorry to wake you, but could you take Cam and check on the kids in Molly's room while I go get Krissy for AJ?"

"How about I get them breakfast? There is a big box of Cheerio's in the kitchen." Georgie asked as she took Cam from his mother's arms.

"Thank you so much." Elizabeth responded with mild relief. "Get Michael to help. He's watching cartoons."

In the few minutes it took to get Kristina up, dressed, and her things together, Georgie got Lila, Morgan and Cam settled with bowls of dry cereal and sippy cups of juice and was settled with a bottle for Molly. Michael was eating a bowl of instant oatmeal that he had made for himself before helping with cereal.

Liz marveled at her efficiency. She didn't think she could have done nearly as well straight out of bed.

She was handing all of Krissy's things over to AJ when Emily came barging in the door, with an irate Carly hot on her heels.

"Look here little girl. You aren't taking my sons anywhere. I don't give a flying fuck what Sonny says." Carly was about to grab Emily's arm when she saw AJ standing there.

"AJ." She said in a much warmer tone than anyone had expected. "What are you doing here?"

Carly was trying very hard to be a more adult and reasonable person these days. Her stay in Roselawn had taught her several things about herself, including that her unreasonable and combative nature had brought on a lot of her problems. She wouldn't be a doormat, but she wasn't going to pick fights where there didn't need to be any.

AJ had sobered up, become a good father to his young son and had stopped trying to get between her and Michael. If he took her leaving Sonny again as some kind of opportunity to try and take her son, then they would throw down, but she wasn't going to be a bitch for no reason. At least not in front of a room full of kids. She felt bad enough for what they had just heard.

AJ smiled at her. "Good morning Carly. I was just picking up Kristina for her dad. He's getting Brooke out of the hospital right now and wanted everyone together for breakfast." He turned to Liz. "And you know that we would be more than happy to have Molly at the house too, until Ric gets out of the hospital. This can't be easy on you, and I know you would probably like to take Cameron home."

Liz shook her head. "it's fine really, we'll stay with Molly for a few days and she can go to the hospital daycare or with Gram while I'm at work." She turned to Carly, taking advantage of her more pleasant than usual attitude. "What about Jason, how is he?"

A flash of little Lizzie cozying up to her best friend while he mourned his wife went through Carly's mind before she shoved it aside. She had seen the way the nurse was getting close to Ric Lansing, the scuzball, again. "He's not that good actually. He doesn't want to go home because it reminds him of Sam. I haven't actually spoken to him since just after you left with the kids last night. I don't know hiw he's going to deal with it. I think I might have him and Lila stay with me and the boys for a while, when we're settled."

Emily stood there and listened as the room at large ignored her presence. These three people, including her brother and her best friend, were casually discussing where Sonny's children would be living, and they weren't even considering him. Lila and Kristina were his daughters, and he barely knew them. He had given up Lila for Carly, and she wasn't even grateful for it. She shook her head and left without a word.

Liz watched her go with a frown. What had happened to her friend?

"So it's all true? You're leaving dad again?" Michael's voice wobbled slightly. His mom was standing here being nice to AJ, and she was leaving his dad. What was going on? He knew his mom had been different after her breakdown, and he knew about his dad and Emily, but he thought that they would just snap out of it and go back to the way things were before.

"Yeah, Mr. Man, it's all true. Me and your dad have told a lot of lies and made a lot of compromises to stay together over the years, but… we just can't forgive and forget this time." She didn't go into details, but she was fairly sure that Michael was aware of the issues. He'd spent a lot of time lurking in the hallway outside of Sonny and Ric's hospital room the last couple of days. She knelt down in front of the couch where he was sitting. "Are you ok about the girls being your sisters now?"

Michael shrugged and maintained his frown. "Doesn't matter, they're my cousins anyway. Besides, they already have dads."

Everyone smiled at him. He was taking things much better than anyone could have anticipated.

AJ cleared his throat. "We'll be going now. I hope to see everyone later." He left Carly with a nod and kissed Liz and Georgie on the cheek.

Liz frowned, hating what she had to do next. "I'm going to make some coffee. Carly, will you join me? I need to talk to you for a moment." Georgie shot her a sympathetic look, knowing what she had to tell the short tempered woman.

Carly just nodded slightly, kissed her oldest son on the cheek, and followed. When they reached the kitchen she started. "Look, if this is about Emily – "

"No", Liz cut her off, "I don't know what her deal is; this is about Michael and some questions he asked last night. He asked me why Sam and I forgave Ric for the bad things he did. I tried to explain how complicated it is, and I think he sort of gets the concept that forgiveness is a personal thing, but then he asked if he was allowed to forgive Ric, since Sam did."

Carly got a fierce look on her face. She still had nightmares about her experience in the panic room, of the chain on her ankle and the fear.

"Now, before you get upset." Liz said, feeling the wrath building. "I told Michael that, while forgiving people is a personal thing, that he had to decide on his own, his parents get to make the decisions about who he's aloud to be around and when. I wouldn't undermine you by encouraging him to go against your wishes. He was asking AJ a few questions about his son this morning too, so I just though you needed to know what was on his mind."

Carly took a deep breath. While she would have preferred none of this to come up… ever, she was grateful that it was handled by someone who respected her position as Micheal's mother, even if they didn't like her. "Ok, thanks for telling me. And, thank you for letting the kids stay here last night. I had to get all of our stuff out of that house before Sonny was released and I didn't know where we would be staying."

"If you need for the boys to stay here…"

Carly shook her head. It was weird having a polite conversation with Little Lizzie Webber, and she knew that it wasn't going to be a common thing. "No, we're staying at the brownstone with Mama. I came to pick the boys up and to see if you had heard from Jason. I tried to call him, but he has his phone turned off. I was sort of hoping that he came to get Lila already."

Liz nodded. She was also worried about her friend. "When he comes to get her, or calls, I'll let him know you are looking for him. He needs everyone he can get right now." She hesitated. "How are you… about Courtney? I know you and Sam weren't really friendly, but Courtney…"

Carly cleared her throat and wiped away a tear. "I'll be fine. I have way too much on my plate to be able to break down. I… I saw Mathew in the NICU earlier. Nikolas was there. He said that he'll probably be out in a week. He asked me to be a part of his life, to be his aunt, even though Sonny and I are over. He even offered to help me, weird as that was."

There was a long, tense, silence, until the sound of a knock on the door drew them out of the kitchen. Jason stood there looking broken and sad. Carly, of course, ran right to him and pulled him into a fierce hug. Liz caught Georgie's eye and they took Cameron and Molly to get changed.

Carly and the boys were waiting to say goodbye by the time that they came back out. Carly gave a stilted thanks, while Morgan waved and Michael gave her a hug. When they left Georgie led Cameron to the back yard to play on Krissy's swing set.

"Elizabeth…" Jason trailed off, not sure what to say to his friend. Things had been better between them for a year or so, but there was still strain there from their break up, her hit and run by Courtney, her marriage to Ric, and her continued friendship with the man. Standing in his house with his daughter on her shoulder, he didn't know what to think about how close the two were now that Alexis had died.

Liz broke the silence for him. "I talked to Carly earlier. We both think that you need to move out of the penthouse, at least for a while." She looked over to Lila, who was sitting in front of the TV watching some inane show on Noggin and was totally oblivious to what was going on around her. "You and Lila need to be together right now, and I don't think you can do that there. You'd be too wrapped up in your grief."

Jason swallowed hard and nodded. "I know, she told me earlier. She wants me to stay with her and the boys at the brownstone for a while. Taggert's old apartment is still empty. Carly thinks it would be better for us to be there at least until she and the boys move out of Bobbie's."

Liz sighed. "She probably wants you there so you can be a buffer when Sonny comes after her and the kids."

"Probably."

"Normally I would say that uprooting Lila and breaking her familiar routines and schedules is the wrong thing to do right now. But, Lila's routines are already broken right now. She has spent a week without seeing Sam or very much of you, most of that in a room at the hospital with her cousins. I think that setting a new routine would be just as easy as getting back to the old one at this point, but you need to be there. That is the important thing. You can't shut her out."

Jason just nodded. He knew that she had a point. He had shut her out completely and it led to her leaving. But he had learned from that, and he wouldn't do that now. Lila was his priority. Grieving for Sam would have to be on his own time. "Can Lila stay for a few more hours? I need to talk to some people, arrange things."

"Yeah, no problem, I'm going to be here with Molly for at least the rest of today, even if Ric does get released." Liz shifted Molly and took a deep breath before she spoke again, not sure how he'd take it. "You can't take Lila from Ric."

Jason was caught off guard by that. "What?"

"I know that you hate Ric, and it would be so easy to cut him out of Lila's life now that Sam is gone."

"I wouldn't." Jason said, surprising even himself. "I… I hate Ric." He glanced to be sure that Lila wasn't listening. "I can't even begin to explain how much. And you know why."

"Because of Carly." Liz chose her words carefully, mindful as well of the little girl.

"And you. I know you think that I didn't care about you then, but I did. My point is… Yeah, I don't get along with Ric, and I can safely say that I never will, but Sam loved him." He took a shaky breath. "He's a part of Lila's family, a big part, and he made sure that no one could ever take her from me. He didn't have to do that. He's why Sonny can't take her from me. And Lila loves him. I don't think I could take that from her, not after losing her grandmother and her mother so close together. And I promised Sam that she could make the choice about Ric, I wouldn't disrespect her that way."

Liz nodded again. "I'm glad. Ric and the girls have lost a lot too. Sam was very important to him and Krissy. Plus Viola was almost as much of a parent to the girls as anyone. I don't know how they are going to go on. God, it feels like Alexis just died and now this."

"I know you'll help them." Jason said with a half-smile. He didn't like her being so close with Lansing, but he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't abandon the man.

Without another word Jason walked over and kissed his little girl goodbye before striding out of the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Chapter 8_**

Ric's awakening that morning was far less cordial. He opened his eyes to see his brother's scowling face looming over him. He wasn't exactly terrified, since he was aware that Sonny could still barely walk, much less attack anyone. He was disturbed however, and aware that it wouldn't tale much actual strength to order one of his men to do the dirty work for him.

"What do you want Sonny?" He croaked. The virus was completely out of his system, but his body was still totally drained and the doctors wouldn't release him for at least another day. Until then he was stuck in this room with Sonny, unless the other man managed to get released sooner.

"What do I want? I want my daughter who you've been keeping from me. That bitch lied to me for YEARS, and you helped her do it. You knew when you married Alexis didn't you? You married that bitch knowing that she was keeping my little girl from me. Hell, that's probably why you married her, anything to get one over on me. Well, not anymore. I will be getting my daughter, and I will bury you to get her if I have to."

Sonny's face had flushed and he was spitting his words. He was spewing so much hate, flailing his arms and yelling that he needed to lay back down when he was done.

Ric was fuming, but he was aware of his weakness, so he felt no need to yell. "You know what Sonny? Go ahead, bury me. It won't do you any good. Ned would just get custody, and you can bet that you'd never get within a hundred yards of her."

"I got Michael didn't I?" Sonny answered smugly. "And the Quartermaines wouldn't even fight me over Kristina, she's not blood."

"Tell that to Emily. If you think that they would hand Kristina over to you, you are out of your mind. You had to get AJ at his absolute lowest, hang him in a meat locker for god knows how long, and threaten to kill him to get him to sign over Michael, and he still didn't stop trying. You wouldn't have a chance in hell against Ned Ashton. You'd have better luck trying to get Lila away from Jason."

Sonny nodded thoughtfully. "Emily, she told me last night….that Sam…she didn't make it. And Carly knows now…so there's no reason to keep up the lie anymore. I'll get both of my daughters back."

Ric actually laughed. "Sonny, you signed over your rights to Lila the day she was born. It's not a lie anymore. Legally, Jason is her father, and there is no way in hell that Jason would just hand her over, even with Sam gone. And as for Kristina? The window of opportunity to question her paternity has passed, and besides, you already had a paternity test done, remember? It proved Ned is Kristina's father. All you have to work with is Carly's word, and that's not worth a hell of a lot anyway. Not to mention that she may well deny the whole thing now. Tell the world if you want, no one will believe you."

Sonny was silent, thankfully, and Ric closed his eyes for a few minutes more. The quiet was interrupted by the door to the room slamming open and Emily flouncing in. Ric rolled his eyes and tried to ignore her. He knew that Elizabeth valued her friendship, but he had never been able to stand her.

"Hey Emily, where are the kids?" Sonny asked curiously. He had asked her to bring the kids to see him, so that he could explain everything to them.

"Still at Ric's house the last time I saw them." Emily shot a disgusted look over her shoulder to the man, who simply rolled his eyes. "Carly came in at the same time that I did and caused a scene in front of Elizabeth and AJ. I wasn't going to be able to get the kids, so I left."

"What was AJ doin' around Michael?" Sonny asked angrily.

Emily shook her head. "He was there to pick up Kristina for Ned. I didn't see him anywhere near Michael."

Sonny flicked his hand in distaste, but didn't say anything. Emily seemed to ignore it and moved on to more pleasant topics.

Ric did his best to ignore the couple for the rest of the morning. He called his office and had his paralegal do a bit of rescheduling and skut, he read a book that one of the candy stripers brought him, and he generally tried to pretend that he wasn't sharing a room with his annoying mobster brother.

Several hours passed that way until eventually he got a surprising visitor.

"You're not dead." The voice was sultry and low with a dangerous edge to it, even when trying to be nice. Her dark hair and tan skin, exotic and flawless, lent to her air of menace. The fact that she only wore black would be scary to a person who didn't know her well.

"No, Claudia, I'm not dead." He answered with a half-smile. "Sorry you came dressed for a funeral for nothing."

Claudia Zachara was the daughter of one of Ric's father's wealthiest and shadiest clients. Trevor and Anthony had been associates throughout their childhoods and had used "family outings" as cover for some of their more illegal dealings. Since Anthony's son, Johnny, was several years younger than both Claudia and Ric, they had spent a lot of time together up until their teens, when Claudia had been banished to Milan and Trevor had stopped any pretense of "family time" with his son. The two had maintained their relationship though, through letters and emails and trips around Europe. This was the first time Ric had seen Claudia on US soil in over 15 years.

Claudia just shrugged. "Maybe next time. I did bring you a present, just in case." She held out a plain black gift bag with black tissue paper spilling decoratively out of the top.

"Only you would wrap a get well gift in black, Claud." Ric said as he accepted the gift.

"That was John actually. He thinks he's funny." She smiled fondly at the mention of her little brother. They hadn't seen each other in person since her father had shipped her off when she was only 16, but they stayed in contact through webcam, email and phone calls. "I got a hug though, so I didn't smack him."

"Wow, this is a day for surprises. You come to the States, John gets to see you, I get presents. I should nearly die more often." Ric motioned for her to sit in the chair that was next to the bed as he surreptitiously eyed his brother. Luckily Sonny was asleep for the moment and Emily had left not long ago for her shift. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation between them and Claudia.

Claudia sat down and picked up a picture that was on the table next to them. It was a candid shot of him with Krissy, Molly, and Lila that Sam had taken just weeks earlier. "Don't tell me all of these kids are yours. Your wife must hate you." She stopped. "I'm sorry. I heard about your wife dying. I tried to call you for weeks. Eventually I had to go on the internet to find out what had happened and if you were ok. When I read about your wife dying, and the new baby, I just decided to wait until you called me. Of course you didn't, and then John calls and tells me that there was an outbreak or something here and that you were on your deathbed. I couldn't wait anymore, so here I am."

She placed the picture back on the table and looked over to his roommate. "I see the people that run this place hate you."

Ric shook his head, clearing the sadness and regret that she had stirred up. "No, but there isn't any room for me anywhere else yet. There were people lining the halls on gurneys not that long ago. There are a lot of people being released today, so hopefully one of us can be moved before dinner time. If not... well, I'm not above checking myself out to get away from him. I would have done it already, but since the kids are in good hands and Sonny can't actually hurt me right now, I thought better of it."

Claudia continued her distant examination of his brother. "He doesn't look quite as menacing as I had expected. More of a greasy weasel than a big bad mob boss."

"And your dad looks like a funny old man instead of an insane crime lord."

"Point." She conceded.

"Speaking of Anthony, how are you here? I thought you were banned from being on the same continent as him." Ric had always disliked Anthony Zachara, even before the man had tried to kill his young son and ended up shooting his wife instead when she protected the boy. He was psychotic and Ric counted his friend as lucky being banished instead of murdered.

"Daddy is in Russia at the moment. Uncle Rudy took the opportunity to send me to Miami for a meeting. I'm basically on vacation in the States until I can go home."

Ric took her hand and held it tight. "I'm glad you came. I've missed you."

"I could tell, what with all of the gushing phone calls and long letters." Her tone was a little biting, but her smile removed a bit of the sting.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I haven't really been talking to people. I think the only people I've said more than ten words to, other than at work, are the family and Elizabeth. I haven't even called my father since before Molly was born. I don't even know if he knows about her, or any of the rest of it."

Claudia rolled her eyes. "He knows. He's the one who told John that you were in the hospital in the first place. He said something about you needing the image boost that being a widowed father would give you in politics."

"Isn't he charming." Ric replied drolly.

"Right. So... Elizabeth huh?" Claudia's very unsubtle topic change made Ric snort.

"Yeah, she's watching Molly for me right now. And before you start, I'm not the same person I was before."

Claudia had always insisted that his attachment to Elizabeth was unhealthy. She had somehow known that he would go over the edge, and she though Elizabeth was the reason. The woman herself wasn't in any way to blame, but Ric was completely fixated on her and their baby, and his control had already been strained to the brink. For all that she loved about him, Claudia knew Ric's darker side too. She shared his need to get revenge on the people he felt were responsible for his pain. She even nurtured it. Sometimes she wondered if her coaching him on in his plotting to hurt his brother would have been the thing that made him crack, if the miscarriage hadn't done it first.

But the more he clung to Elizabeth, the more the delusions took hold. Even when she lied to him about her baby being his, and married him again in bad faith, he held on so fiercely that it scared even someone as screwed up and jaded as Claudia.

Claudia didn't know what had finally snapped Ric out of it, but she was grateful every day, and she loathed the thought of him loosing himself again. But, she supposed, if he could survive his wife's death, then maybe he really was different.

"I believe you." She stated with conviction.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9_**

Luckily for everyone involved, Ric was released from GH the next day. He still wasn't on his feet, but he was well enough that the doctors agreed to send him home as long as he had someone staying with him. Brooke had volunteered, but Ned and Ric had both pointed out that she was still recovering herself. Eventually Ric asked Liz, a bit reluctantly.

"I really hate to impose on you even more." he said to her as they walked into the lake house. Cam ran in in front of them, while Molly dozed in Liz's arms. Kristina was going to be staying at the Gatehouse for another day or two to make things a bit easier. Ric wasn't entirely sure he liked the idea. He really just wanted to be home with both of his girls and deal with the loss of yet another member of their family.

Liz laughed softly. "It's really no bother. I really think Cam likes it here better than Gram's house, and Gram could use the time to herself. Talk about imposing. I've been living with her off and on since high school. Every time I move out I promise it will never happen again, and then, there I am, baby in tow, needing help."

Ric gave half a smile himself as he settled on the couch. "Not all of that was your fault you know. I'm responsible, in part, for this last stay."

Liz shook her head. "I could have stayed in California with Steven, I could have gone back to my studio. I could have not had a pain fueled one night stand with Zander... again. I had choices. But Grams is the best of my family, and I lean on her too much."

She put Molly in the playpen that stayed in the corner of the room and sat down next to him. He patted her knee lightly. "Thanks anyway."

She sat back with a sigh. It was amazing that they could sit here together and casually discuss their past without fear, tears, anger, and recrimination. In the time since Alexis' death they had discussed it a great deal, and they were really both at peace now. He had come to see his obsession for what it was, and she had come to realize that loving him was not wrong, and she didn't have to punish him to make herself feel better.

They had both come to these conclusions long before, but they had never been comfortable discussing any of it. But they had grown closer these last months, and things were now easy between them in a way they had never been before. They weren't holding anything back from each other.

"I like it here, but you're welcome." She answered after a beat.

Cameron was playing on the floor with a pair of Tonka trucks that his uncle Steven had given him. He was totally oblivious when his mother leaned over and kissed Ric softly on the lips, before getting up and getting Molly a bottle.

While she was gone Ric's mind raced. He felt exhilarated, and guilty. Was it right for him to move forward with Elizabeth so soon after Alexis' death? Would it hurt the girls, or would it help them all to move past all of the pain? The truth was that Kristina would probably only remember snatches of her mother, and Molly would know nothing at all beyond what she was told. It wouldn't be traumatic for them if he moved on. For him though, it was different. He didn't know if he was ready to jump into something new... well, return to something old really, so soon.

Elizabeth reentered the room and picked up the baby to feed her. When she returned to her seat next to him she smiled. "You don't need to panic you know. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm not expecting..."

He cut her off with a soft kiss of his own. After a beat he said. "Don't worry about it. Even though I 'm not ready right now, I will be."


	10. Chapter 10

**_Chapter 10_**

Liz and Cam stayed with Ric for a week. He was still weak and tired from the virus and with Viola gone he didn't have any help. Kristina returned from Ned's house after a few days and they fell into a comfortable pattern. By the time the mother and son returned to her grandmother's house she didn't really want to go.

Audrey watched her granddaughter with mounting worry. Ric Lansing was a mistake that Elizabeth had barely survived, and she could see where things were going. No matter what she said, Elizabeth seemed blind to what was so obvious to everyone else around her. Only Nikolas wasn't making an issue out of it, and as far as Audrey could tell, he felt beholden to the man who was raising his cousins. He was willing to look past Lansing's sins to maintain the connection, damn the consequences to his friend.

For a while, after the virus had passed and Elizabeth returned from nursing her former husband, Audrey allowed herself to relax. Months passed without a hint of romance, or any further deepening of Elizabeth's feelings for the man who drugged, used, and nearly killed her. Even though the pair were closer than they had been since the second divorce, friendship was as far as it went, until the blackout.

Well... as far as Audrey and almost everyone knew anyway.

Truthfully, the slow process of renewing the relationship went on steadily from the first kiss on. Liz spent more and more time with the Lansing family, Ric babysat Cameron more and more often, and they started leaving all of the kids with Mathew's nanny and spending time out alone in Crimson Pointe more and more often.

Then came the blackout. It was a steamy August night that stressed the power grid to its limits and beyond. When the power went out people all over town were set on paths that could, and in some cases would, leave them forever changed.

Lucky Spencer lost all judgment and let himself be seduced by Maxie Jones in an empty office at the PCPD. His sister Lulu tried and failed to win her stepbrother away from his wife, only to wind up having drunken sex in the back of a limo with Diego Alkazar. Jason Morgan let his loneliness get the better of him and got himself, and his best friend, drunk and fell into bed with the one person he really shouldn't have. Elizabeth and Ric made love for the first time since their divorce, and Emily Quartermaine got into a heated battle with her lover, Sonny Corinthos, and showed up at her ex-husband's door, just in time to catch him in a heated embrace with another woman.

It was quite a night, and nobody would see the full impact of it right away. It took a month, and a scandal.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Chapter 11_**

"What kind of condoms do you use?"

Elizabeth's neck nearly snapped at the way she yanked it around to regard her grandmother with utter confusion. They were at the 6th floor nurse's station and Liz was finishing her chart notations before the end of her shift. Audrey was there taking care of some paperwork for the volunteer program which she donated her time to running since her retirement as head nurse a few years earlier.

Audrey pursed her lips and made a disapproving face. "Monica mentioned to me at lunch today that the brand of condoms that is manufactured by one of the ELQ subsidiaries that Tracy handles put out several batches of defective condoms. Apparently most of the lots were sold locally before the problem was detected. I simply want to be sure that you aren't among those who have been using them. And I truly hope that you are using something, because - "

Liz held up a hand and cut off her grandmother mid-sentence. "I'm sorry Grams, but I don't think I can handle where that sentence was going." She took a deep breath. "Ok, so, not that it's any of your business at all, but Ric and I do use condoms. And no, they aren't the ELQ ones because I buy them from the pharmacy here in the hospital and Alan banned all ELQ manufactured products from the building years ago. Now, for my sanity, can we please talk about something else?"

"Of course." Audrey nodded. At least that was one worry taken care of. She had been horrified to find out that Elizabeth was sleeping with her ex-husband again. "I was thinking that I could take Cameron with me when I go visit your Uncle next week. Tom and Simone have plenty of room and I could take him to the zoo in Central Park." She smiled brightly at the thought of seeing New York City through the eyes of her great grandson.

Liz smiled faintly, but shook her head. "Grams, you know I've already made plans for Cam and me while you're gone. It's a vacation. You don't need a 2 year old screaming and throwing tantrums for a week while you catch up with Uncle Tom. Besides, I don't think I could bear being away from my baby that long."

Audrey frowned deeply. Elizabeth had taken to leaving her son with Ric Lansing when she worked evening or weekend shifts, which she didn't do often, but she was scheduled to work for the entire next week. "Come now, Elizabeth. You can't really think it's appropriate to leave him with Ric Lansing all of the time like that. Cameron is going to get confused. You don't want him to start thinking of that man as his father. And who knows what kind of influence he's already having on the poor boy."

Liz sighed and pulled her hands through her hair. "Look, I get what you are trying to say, and I really appreciate the concern, but I know what I'm doing here. I love you Grams, and you have no idea what your love and support means to me, but I'm Cam's mother. I know what my son needs, and I get to decide who is a part of our lives. And just so you know, Cam is going to be spending all of my shifts with Georgie Quartermaine, not Ric, while you're gone. He's actually going to be in the city himself, taking care of a client.

Ric had returned to a successful career as a private attorney after Alexis' death. His office was part of a Brownstone near Bobby Spencer's house and had a space set up for the kids so that he could have them nearby. Georgie had taken the job as office assistant for his paralegal, Amanda, and Au 'pare for Molly and Kristina, since both Mac and Tracy refused them any financial support beyond college tuition so long as they stayed married, and Felicia had left town again months ago. She had already worked out a schedule that suited everyone's needs, and managed to convince Monica to rent the Gatehouse to her and Dillon for almost nothing after Ned had suddenly made the decision to move to the city with Brooke to focus on L&B and his daughter's career. All of that, plus Dillon's job running errands for Jax after classes, meant that they could stop arguing with their parents on a daily basis and get on with their lives. It was kind of sad to Liz that a girl who was barely 18 had her life together a hell of a lot more than she did.

Audrey grimaced. "Really, poor Georgie has so much on her plate already..."

"It was her idea Grams. Until school starts she doesn't have anything other than work to worry about, and the office is going to be closed while Ric is gone." Liz grabbed her grandmother's hands and smiled at her. "Just, go visit with Uncle Tom, have a good time. Go see a play on Braodway, or an Opera. We'll be fine. Think of all of the quiet time you'll have without us stepping on your toes all of the time."

Just then a string of familiar women filed past the pair and made their way into a conference room around the corner. They all looked angry enough to kill, but oddly none of it was aimed at each other. And in a group containing Brenda Barrett, Emily Quartermaine, Carly Spencer, Skye Quartermaine, Lulu Spencer, Maxie Jones and Robin Scorpio, that was really saying something.

"Ok", Liz said, "Whatever that's about, it's really not good."

"You're telling me." said a dejected Georgie as she came up to the nurses' station and laid her head down on its cool surface with a whimper.

Seeing that she was done for the day, Liz pulled Georgie behind her, out of the hospital to the Recovery Room, a pub across the street. Ric had taken Molly, Kristina, Lila and Cam out to Nikolas's new house for the afternoon, since he was leaving the next day, Sunday, and wouldn't be seeing any of them for a week. This left Georgie getting herself and Dillon ready to go stay at the lake house while he was gone, and apparently be roped into the Quartermaine family drama.

As soon as they ordered, chocolate shakes and smothered fries to split, Liz asked, "So, what's going on?"

Georgie sighed. "There was an ELQ board meeting last night, and it came out that Tracy was hiding information about defective condoms that were made a few months ago and shipped out. She did recall the boxes from the shelves, but didn't make any move to tell the public about the ones that had already been sold."

Liz nodded. "Right, Grams mentioned it to me earlier. So what does that have to do with … no!" Her eyes widened and she nearly laughed.

"Yeah, apparently Lulu overheard the argument on her way to see Carly last night, and Skye and Emily were a part of the meeting, and they told Brenda and Robin. I told Maxie about it this morning. And apparently, all of them have used that brand of condoms in the last couple of months. And some of them with the same men. It's like a train wreck waiting to happen." She shook her head.

Liz smirked. "Yeah, and I've never been prouder of Alan and Monica for not wanting to be accused of nepotism and refusing to contract ELQ companies for hospital supplies. Just think of the people suing the hospital because the condoms they got in the clinic, or bought in the pharmacy are defective."

"Amen." Gerogie muttered. "Anyway, Emily threatened to go public herself if Tracy didn't do the right thing, and the rest, including Skye, have threatened to sue if it turns out that the condoms they used malfunctioned. I've never been happier with my choices in birth control." She sighed in relief.

"Hear Hear!" Liz responded, clinking her newly delivered glass against the younger woman's.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Chapter 12_**

Over the next week the scandals filtered through the hospital grapevine.

Robin Scorpio was not pregnant, but after the results came in she realized that she wanted to be, and was now pestering her hapless lover, Patrick Drake, about it. He had poo pooed the idea immediately and now she was threatening to find a sperm donor instead.

Lulu Spencer was pregnant by Diego Alkazar of all people. She was having a hard time with the idea of being a mom so young, especially with the son of a mobster, who showed every sign of following his father and uncle into the family business. Diego was pressing her to get married, and promising her everything under the sun. He had even gone so far as to ask that she have the baby and let him raise it if she didn't want to be a part of its life. Her brother Lucky was pushing her to have the baby and put it up for adoption, and her farther was MIA, per usual.

Lucky had other problems though, because Maxie Jones was also pregnant, and had informed her father about it, and who the father was, the moment she found out. Mac Scorpio was less than pleased to say the least. He had threatened Lucky's job and then his life when Maxie informed him that the man had asked her to abort. Apparently it had been a misunderstanding and Lucky had simply been offering to support the girl if she pursued that option of her own choosing. Lucky spent a few nights hiding at Audrey's house until that had gotten cleared up.

Carly Spencer, while trying to help her young cousin, was thanking her lucky stars that she wasn't pregnant. She had gotten drunk with Jason during the blackout, leading to them sleeping together. She and her dearest friend had worked things out in the morning, both realizing that it was comfort not love, and she had shortly afterward started seeing Lorenzo Alkazar. That not only would have led to issues if she had been pregnant, but placed her firmly in the middle of Lulu's problems as it was.

Skye, who was also trying to advise Lulu, was pregnant. She was over the moon about it, since she had believed that it was impossible, but she was anxious about what it meant for her relationship with Jax. They were flirting with the idea of renewing a relationship, but not sleeping together, so he was definitely not the father. Skye knew who was, but wasn't telling. Lots of names had been bandied around, but the most common, and most scandalous, were Luke Spencer and Lorenzo Alkazar.

Jax had however slept with Brenda Barrett, and Brenda had slept with Sonny Corinthos and Sonny had slept with Emily Quartermaine. Brenda had come to town hoping to reunite with Sonny now that he had divorced Carly once again. Seeing him with Emily, she had gone to Jax and ended up in bed with the man who had left her at the altar. When he realized that she had used him, again, he kicked her out of his apartment and had her kicked out of the hotel that he owned with Carly. Carly, who had been bequeathed the Courtney's half of the hotel in her will, had been thrilled to publicly put the woman out on her ass. Brenda went to Sonny's looking for a place to stay, Emily and Sonny fought over it, Emily left in a pique only to come back later to apologize and fall back into Sonny's bed, not knowing that Brenda had also shared it that night.

All of this played out in the middle of the 6th floor hub like a sick version of Jerry Springer when Jax revealed that he had tested positive for Gonorrhea.

Liz would have been highly entertained if one of her close friends hadn't been in the middle of it. Her and Emily's friendship had cooled, even as she got closer to Georgie, but they still loved each other like family, and it hurt to see her so torn up. Of course it would have been more moving if the naive intern hadn't gone back to the mob boss because her hopes of rekindling things with her former husband had been dashed by the sight of him making out with someone that she didn't get a glimpse of before running off.

And all of that drama was just with the people Liz knew. All over town there were similar issues and similar problems.

By the time Ric returned Georgie had lined up several personal law suits against Tracy, an abundance of clients ready to take part in a class action suit, and quite a few divorce cases.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 13_**

On the last day before Ric's return to town Liz was off, so she took all of the kids, including Lila, to visit with Nikolas and baby Mathew.

Nikolas had bought a place just outside of town. It was on the opposite end of town from the docks and was just across the street from a nice suburban community filled with families and a nice small private school. It was a huge step away from the isolation and Gothic grandeur of Wyndemere, but not like the tiny cottage in the woods that he had previously lived in either. It was an acre of land with a nice garden, a comfortable house for him, Alfred, the nanny and a housekeeper to live and have guests in, and a big yard for kids to play and a five car garage, just for him.

He wasn't getting rid of the castle, as he loved the freedom of riding on the island and having grand parties there, but he was moving forward to something new, which was a huge step for him.

In any event, Liz was at the house with his cousins and her son, and he was smiling brightly as he bounced his son into the air from his lap.

"So, who was the woman?" Liz asked with a teasing smile. There hadn't been a single peep of a woman in her friend's life since Courtney had died. And since he would never date the nanny,, it was a huge mystery.

Nikolas laughed slightly. "She's just a friend. I think Emily exaggerated it in her mind. I barely kissed the woman."

"But you did kiss her? See, that's a big deal." Liz persisted. Cam, Lila, and Kristina were all playing in the huge sun room that Nikolas had turned into playroom/day nursery. Molly was napping on the couch next to Liz in a nest of pillows. That baby could sleep through just about anything as long as she was on her tummy and had her fingers placed firmly in her mouth.

He shook his head. "Don't read too much into it, really." Mattie was starting to fuss, needing a bottle and a nap of his own, so Nik settled him in his bouncer and gave him the bottle that the nanny had set on a table for him moments earlier. "She's someone I knew through my uncle before I came here. I hadn't seen or heard from her in years and she just showed up to say hi. I was just happy to see her. Plus she's very happily married so even if I was interested, it would be a waste of time."

Liz raised a hand in concession. "Ok, so the who isn't important. But the real question is, if it had been the real deal, how would you feel about that?"

Mathew was starting to doze, so Nikolas put the bottle back on the table and tucked his blanket around him, not wanting to move him. "If you mean Emily, that ship has sailed. I can't see going back to that as an option, especially now that she..." He trailed off, not wanting to say anything bad about someone he had loved and treated so badly.

Liz shook her head. "No, I get that. I feel the same way about Lucky. I love him, but I can't see us together, which is weird for me since us having a future was such an important part of my life for so long. And as for how Emily has been lately... maybe she will be able to make a clean break from Sonny and be more of her old self again, although I don't know if we can ever be as close as we were, not now that I'm with Ric again."

Nikolas gave her a sympathetic smile, but maintained his silence on the subject. It was annoying how he never gave any opinion one way or another about Ric, but it was better than the many vocal deserters. Of course it would be nice to have one person approve besides Steven, who never met the man until he was involved with Alexis and didn't know the details of his history with Liz herself. Plus, her brother liked Carly, so Liz didn't really trust his judgment much.

Nik promptly changed the subject. "So, you got a new car I see. Bigger."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Ric bought it actually, so it's technically not mine, but he insists I drive it. He got one for himself and one for Georgie too. I swear one of his clients paid him with them, that's the only reason I can see for it. But, the damn SUV has room for 4 car seats and my little Honda could barely handle 2 the one time I had to make it work, so I've given up complaining about it. Grams had a fit of course."

Nik smiled. "Of course." He sat up and looked down his nose, impersonating the older woman. "It's just an indication of the man's need to control you, and a bad sign of just how he expects your relationship to work in the future."

Liz laughed. "Basically. I think she really believes that it's just a stage and I'll move on again soon, and she doesn't want be beholden to Ric in any way. She also doesn't like the way we share our children. She says he's using Cam and the girls to tie me to him."

"As long as you want to be tied up." Nik replied with a shrug and then the friends looked at each other and laughed.

Ric and Audrey both returned home and life went back to what was becoming normal for them all. Liz and Cam would spend great lengths of time at the lake house, together and separately, and Liz would take Molly and Kristina on outings, with and without Cam. Audrey would warn Liz about attachments again and again, and then Liz would shake her head and try and ignore it. Emily and Lucky were distant, Audrey, Bobbie and Robin were disproving, Nikolas was silent and Ric was trying so hard it made her teeth hurt.

Drama was still unfolding from the condom scandal, even after the new year.

Lulu had eventually decided on an abortion, causing huge amounts of tension in the Spencer and Alkazar families. Diego left town angry and defeated and Lulu did her best to forget about the whole thing, starting a weird dating game between her new friend, Spinelli -who had worked for Lorenzo, but went to work for his idol, Jaosn - and Sonny's guard Milo. Carly tried to get her to see how self-destructive she was being, but Lulu ignored the brand new Mrs. Alkazar.

Maxie and Lucky had actually married before Christmas, only for Maxie to miscarry not long after. Things between them were strained because Maxie believed that Lucky would leave without the baby there, and he was upset at her lack of faith in him.

Emily left Sonny for good when his infidelity was revealed, and began a full press campaign to get Nikolas back. Nik was having none of it, leading Emily to feverish speculation about who he was with during the blackout. She had gone so far as to suggest that he was the father of Skye's baby, and they were hiding it to protect her. It was so ridiculous that Liz hadn't been able to stop herself from laughing hysterically as she relayed the theory to Skye days later.

Skye seemed to take Jax sleeping with Brenda in stride, but their momentum toward romance was definitely stopped cold. She still wasn't telling who the father of her child was, and Jax was still fixated on Brenda, again. The pair remained close though, and Skye still filled a maternal role for his daughter, Jade.

Brenda and Sonny got engaged and broke up twice before Christmas. She moved into Jason's penthouse, which he and Lila had moved out of, and seemed to be focusing on work instead of romance for the moment.

It was a mess, and the only person who seemed happy in any of it was Skye.

Liz and Ric continued to move forward steadily and somewhat slowly. They had rushed into marriage twice before, now they were trying to do things right, for them and their children. Unfortunately Audrey seemed to be right about one thing, the kids.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Chapter 14_**

It was bedtime, just like any other night. Liz and Cam were staying, as they did more often than not these days, and Liz was putting the kids to bed while Ric was off at the police station getting bail for a client.

She finished Kristina's story and kissed her forehead before leaning over to turn off the lamp.

"Lizzie," the now 4 year old asked. "are you my mommy now?"

Liz stopped. "What do you mean sweetie?"

Krissy sat up on her elbow and regarded her seriously. "Well, you do all of the stuff for Molly and me that you do for Cam, and you're his mommy. And I have two daddies, so I can have two mommies too, right?"

Liz smiled at her. "That's true, but I think it's up to your daddy to decide if I'm going to be your mommy or not. Now, time for bed princess."

Kristina sighed and gave her a hug before laying back down and going to sleep.

Liz sat on the couch for an hour in the quiet, waiting for Ric to come home and thinking hard about their situation.

Alexis had died over a year ago, Molly's first birthday had marked that. It was sad, but it had been a happy day for all of the kids and for Ric as well. He seemed truly healed from that loss.

Mathew's first birthday would mark the first year of their relationship, which was already longer than their courtship and first marriage combined. She was really happy with Ric and his children in her life, and her son's. Cam looked to Ric for guidance and permission, just like the girls did. They already spent so much time here that Ric had moved Molly into Kristina's room and redecorated what had been the nursery into a boy's room for him. They barely spent 2 nights a week at her Grams' house anymore and she had taken Cam out of daycare to join the girls with Mathew's nanny in the morning and Georgie the rest of the day.

But... she didn't want to pressure Ric.

The man himself sauntered into the house with a smile of triumph and Liz's heart melted.

"Marry me!" She said before she could stop herself.

She clapped her hands over her face in mortification and blushed brightly.

Seeing the look on her face Ric smiled at her again before dropping his briefcase in the chair and crossing his arms. "You're not pregnant again are you?"

She looked absolutely horrified for a second before she processed his stance and expression, then she giggled. "No." she shook her head. "You're not obsessed with your brother again?"

"No." He looked thoughtful. "Any one night stands we need to talk about?"

"Not that I can remember. Stalkery blonde mob bosses?"

"Nope, I think I'm clear of that one." He sat down on the couch and pulled her into his lap. "So, no babies, besides the ones sleeping down the hall, no stalkers, no obsessions, no one night stands... and you want me to marry you?"

She frowned playfully. 'Well, when you put it like that, it seems a little dull."

He kissed her passionately and she groaned before saying. "Ok, not too dull I guess." and pulling him close for a hot embrace.

An hour later they were relaxing on the couch, sweaty and barely decent.

Ric's fingers trailed along the soft skin of Liz's bare arm as she lay tucked into his side. "So, you wanna explain that little outburst earlier? Not that I'm complaining."

Liz snuggled deeper into his warmth. "I'm sorry about that. I had just been sitting there, thinking hard about our future, and then there you were, high on victory and sexy as sin. I don't know what came over me."

"Well," he drawled, "What had you thinking so hard? I know how much you wanted to just take things as they come."

Liz groaned and leaned her head back. "I did, but then Krissy asked me if I was her mommy now, because I'm always here taking care of her and Molly, and it made me realize that we're not pretending to be a family sometimes, we're a family pretending not to be. And then I saw you come in and though 'that's what you want girl, take it!' and then I blurted."

He was silent for a long moment and Liz started to fear the worst, but when she looked up into his face she saw a smile and tears. "Oh, Ric, I don't want to push - "

He shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's just... I want to be a family with you. I want to have all of that, and I want to have a real wedding where we can say to the world, 'this is for real'. I just wish things could have been different. I wouldn't trade having Alexis for anything, or miss out on Kristina and Molly, but I wish that when we announce to the world that we are forever, there weren't going to be people lined up around the block to throw the past in our faces. I wish I had treated you right."

She wiped his face and kissed him gently. "Are you proposing to me then?"

He looked at her with mock offense. "I'm accepting your proposal actually. What? Are you taking it back now? I mean it's bad enough you didn't have a ring."

Liz laughed. "No, not taking it back. Although, as I recall, we've already had plenty of rings, and they didn't help much."

Ric nodded. "Ok, so no engagement rings, for either of us, but wedding rings are a must. New ones of course, don't want to jinx us."

"Right. And for something completely different, a real wedding. Big dress, tuxedo, ballroom at Wyndemere, the works."

"And we can invite everyone, even Carly and Sonny, and have all of the kids as part of the ceremony."

"Hey I can meet your dad!" Ric made a face, but Liz ignored him. "We could have Krissy and Lila flanking Molly dropping flower petals, and then Cam and Mattie can bring the rings."

There was a silence. "Are we really going to do this?" Liz asked with her heart in her throat. "I mean, it's fun to dream, but are we gonna make it a reality?"

"Yeah," Ric said eventually, "I think we are."


	15. Chapter 15

**_Chapter 15_**

Diego came home at the end of January determined to have some kind of future with Lulu. It had taken a lot of time, but he had managed to get past his anger at the abortion. Lulu was shocked and didn't know how to break it to him that she wasn't interested in him, so she talked him into joining Spin and Milo in their attempt to win her. He didn't see it as the scam it was, so he accepted and was even willing to play fair, for a while anyway.

Sonny Corinthos shot Lorenzo Alkazar only a few days later. Sonny had been acting rashly for a while, but shooting an unarmed Lorenzo when he came to the coffee shop was a huge miscalculation, mostly because Michael had come with him, wanting to see his dad. Charges were filled, but Sonny's lawyer had managed to get him out on bail pretty quickly. Lorenzo himself was hospitalized and needed multiple surgeries over a period of weeks due to bullet fragments that were missed the first time his brain was operated on.

Other people in town were having their share of problems too. Robin dumped Dr. Patrick Drake, accusing him of sleeping around, which he denied. He said that she really left him because he didn't want to have a baby with her. Liz thought that he was probably right, but didn't confront her other friend about it. She did know that Patrick wasn't cheating, and probably never would since it was one of the things that he held against his father, Dr. Noah Drake.

Georgie and Dillon were fighting over work and school and not seeing enough of each other. They were both so busy that they barely spent a waking hour without work or assignments getting in between them, plus Dillon was jealous of Georgie's professor and she was unhappy that he was still friends with Lulu at all after what she had tried.

Maxie had filed for divorce from Lucky, over his strong objections. She felt that they were only together for the baby, and without it there wasn't much point in holding him back. He was hurt, and turned to drinking more and more.

Tracy Quartermaine was positive that Luke was the father of Skye's baby, and was demanding a paternity test to prove his infidelity. Luke denied it of course, but he was still at the top of the betting pool, with Nikolas Cassidine and Mitchell Coleman hot on his heels.

Emily Quartermaine was obsessed with getting back together with Nikolas. She had tried to get AJ to help her scam the prince, but her brother wasn't willing to lose all he had to rekindle his little sister's failed romance. Nikolas was doing his best to move on, even going as far as taking Brenda Barrett out a few times. He didn't want to raise his son in mourning, but he didn't want to retread the past either. He was hoping to find love again, but he wasn't going to do that with Emily, he though they were better as friends, if she would just accept it and move on.

AJ was mostly keeping out of everything he possibly could. He had already dealt with more than enough drama. Of course, drama sometimes found him. Carly marrying Lorenzo Alkazar had upset him, but he had managed to keep from butting in until Sonny's lawyer had approached him for help in taking custody of the boys from her, going so far as to offer visitation with Michael in exchange. AJ has been tempted, but thought better of it after actually seeing him with the kids one day in the park. Actually what he had seen was Sonny standing in a quiet spot, handling business, while Milo made snowballs with Morgan and Michael wandered off with a girl around his age. They were stopped from leaving the park by Scott Baldwin, who turned out to be the girl, Tina's, father. A whole shouting match between Scott and Jason, who was passing through with his daughter, went down without Sonny ever noticing. AJ just shook his head and went to Carly with what Sonny had offered. That led to Lorenzo showing up to have words with his rival on his wife's behalf, and being shot by the enraged mobster.

Michael stopped speaking to Sonny full stop and asked his mother if he would be allowed to go visit his baby brother some time. Carly had been worried over her husband's head wound and taken by surprise, but had agreed, as long as he was chaperoned by someone she trusted. Since Lulu still lived there, even though her father and Tracy were on the outs again, she took her cousin to see Jamie. Milo told Sonny about it that very day and Sonny decided to catch the Quartermaines at the hospital fundraiser and put a stop to it.

Bobbie Spencer was throwing the fundraiser for GH at the Metrocourt, which Carly was half owner of. It was a huge event and most to the notable people of Port Charles were there. The party was in full swing and only waiting on the hostess, who was arguing with Carly that she should stay at the hospital with her over her daughter's insistence that she was fine. Tracy, Edward, Georgie, Dillon, AJ, and Monica were all in the ballroom in small groups, either arguing with or complaining about each other. Alice was there too, taking a night off from her new job as nanny for little Jamie Quartermaine. Mike Corbin was chatting with her since she was the only person he saw that he actually liked, other than Dillon and Georgie who were taking that moment to argue about who they were spending time with instead of each other.

Down in the Lobby Liz was standing with Nikolas and Robin as she waited for Ric to show up. Alan had followed Lulu down because she was acting oddly and trying to see what was up with her. Emily jointed the pair after Nikolas turned his back on her plea to talk in private. Maxie was standing with the concierge, Marty, and the new clerk, her old friend Serena Baldwin. Sonny had come in spewing venom and, seeing the first available Quartermaine, was hassling Skye by the front door as Brenda came rushing in, late for the party upstairs and nearly tripped over Max, who was working as security for the hotel now.

All of this was happening when a group of gunmen crashed through the doors, one firing his weapon into the air as he came. Everything stopped and the hostage situation began.


	16. Chapter 16

**_Chapter 16_**

"This is a robbery, cooperate and it will be over in 5 minutes!"

The room was in motion again. Nikolas grabbed Skye, who had rushed away from Sonny while he was distracted by Brenda's entrance, and pulled her behind him. Sonny pulled Brenda back and Alan tried to shield both Emily and Lulu from view.

Serena was stunned, but moved her hand to set off the silent alarm. The ring leader, the only one talking, saw her and pointed his gun in her face. "Excuse me, just how badly to you want to be employee of the month?"

She froze and shook her head, raising her hand away from the alarm.

"Smart girl. Now, nobody wants to be a hero." he pointed his gun at various people. "Do they?"

Maxie snarled. "Just take what you want and go."

"Oh, I intend to, starting with cell phones, PDAs and pagers, please." The leader said with mock politeness as him men began covering the windows and security cameras with black spray paint.

Skye, seeing the distraction, tried to dial her phone at her side to get help. One of the guards grabbed her hard and Liz tried to get him to stop. "Stop it, she's pregnant! Let go!"

Skye herself was trying to appease the guard by handing over the phone easily and not struggling.

Nikolas moved Liz aside and tried to get the man off himself, only to be pistol whipped for his trouble. Maxie was just pissed. "What is wrong with you? Don't you see your just putting us all in danger, including your baby?"

Skye gave the younger woman an apologetic look as she tried to help Liz check on Nikolas' head.

"I'm fine, really." He said as he stood up to hug his sister who had run over.

The ringleader was just looking at Maxie. "Such a sweetheart aren't you. You're going to be trouble."

Maxie just rolled her eyes. "Just rob us and get it over with will you?"

He smirked. "I apologize for the inconvenience darling." then he quickly moved to snatch Sonny's gun from his back. "Look what we have here." He handed the gun off to one of his men before quickly moving on.

Sonny looked around and saw one female robber hassling Father Mateo and what the others were doing.

Brenda asked him. "What are you thinking."

He looked again and said. "This isn't a robbery. These guys are after something."

It was a long and harrowing night. Alan had a heart attack and went untreated for hours. Robin was shot at the start of the night and went into shock. Max was also shot, but wasn't as seriously injured. Skye had early labor pains and nearly delivered her son 2 months early.

The gunmen dragged Maxie off and she was stuck in the vault for 12 hours after Serena got up the guts to press the alarm.

Early in the night Carly showed up outside and, seeing what was happening, filled both Luke and Jason in on everything that she knew about what the men could be after. Lorenzo had asked her to handle things for him for a few weeks since he knew he was going to be in and out of brain surgery from his gunshot wound. He was helping the government handle the transfer of something unknown to another organization. He was the middle man and was to hand over the package and take the wire transfer. The package was in a briefcase in the vault of the hotel, and it had a failsafe to explode if the code wasn't entered at a predetermined time. Luckily, since Carly ran the hotel, she knew that the vault was sealed for 12 hours after the alarm was triggered, and the code needed to be entered within 13 minutes of that, if the time of the alarm she got from the security company was correct. All they had to do was handle the hostage situation and get the case from the gunmen before it blew.

Things on the outside were just as tense as on the inside. Lucky and Mac were so afraid for their families that they couldn't think clearly. In the end the DA, David Cole, took over as hostage negotiator so the man inside would stop taunting the commissioner about his niece bleeding behind him. Mac was left to overseeing the police presence with Lucky. Luke was arrested trying to sneak into the building and Tracy refused to bail him out once she and the other partygoers were evacuated from the building. Patrick had trouble keeping his calm as he tried to talk Emily and Elizabeth through tending to Robin. Jason was scrambling to find a way to get everyone out alive, using information that Carly had given him before returning to the hospital to check on Lorenzo and see if he had anything else to offer when he woke up.

At one point in the night Ric lost his patience and went to the hospital to see Lorenzo himself. Lorenco had awakened with huge gaps in his memory not long before and Diego and Carly were trying to jog his memory. Diego had to forcibly drag Ric away from his father's bedside and take him out of the hospital completely.

Carly tried to reassure her husband that the hostage situation was not his fault, that he had done all that he could to do the job safely, even though he didn't want to do it. That this was it; he didn't have to do any of this anymore. This had been one last job to clear the decks, and he was a good man and father..

Scott Baldwin distracted himself by going to the police station and taunting Luke in his cell. Eventually he ended up sharing it with him.

Michael called Carly several times to check on her and see if Lorenzo was ok. She hesitated to tell him that his father and cousin and Emily were being held hostage, but he saw the news and called her again. She had to have Milo drive him to the hospital to keep him from running out to the hotel. Milo was upset himself, but agreed to bring Michael to her before he went to stand vigil with everyone outside the hotel waiting.

Inside there was the ad hauc surgery on Robin, personal drama between Brenda and Sonny, Alan confronting Lulu about her suspicion that he killed Rick Webber and let her mother take the fall, escape attempts by Sonny, Brenda and Lulu and rescue missions by two groups; Lucky and Luke (who Lucky had gotten out of lockup) and Jason and Spinelli. Skye started having pains right after she helped Emily and Elizabeth take care of Robin, and Mr. Craig spent a good long time terrifying and generally taunting poor Serena, who was nearly numb from shock. Then there was the moment when Emily was forced to decide whether Skye or Alan should be released.

The hostage situation ended in an explosion. When the Lobby blew, most everyone made it either to the other end of the building or out the front door. Unfortunately Liz and Skye only got as far as being shoved into the stopped elevator by Jason who didn't even make it in himself. He was trapped under some rubble, but well enough to get himself out and yell for help for the two women who were now trapped in the elevator on the basement level.

Skye's contractions had thankfully stopped on their own by then and the pair only needed to wait it out.

"I'm so sorry Sonny dragged you into this mess. If he hadn't stopped you, you wouldn't be here right now." Liz said with sympathy as she held the other woman's hand.

Skye laughed. "It's sort of funny actually. The Quartermaines fight so hard to deny me, and I'm only here because everyone else accepts what most of them wont. Except Alan... oh god, I hope he's alright. I don't know what I would do without him." Her tone was more somber now, tears filling her eyes.

"I'm sure that Alan is at the hospital being taken care of by now. He was better the last time we saw him, right? Just hold on to that thought until you see him for yourself."

"He's going to hate me you know. When he finds out who the father of my baby is, when Edward and Tracy find out... He's going to blame me for the fall out, and I wouldn't blame him. I'm not his real family after all."

Liz's mind reeled a bit before she flashed back to a similar situation from the Port Charles Hotel fire. One that she was thankfully not a part of, but heard about later.

"You're not saying that Sonny is the father, are you?"

Skye looked at her like she was insane.

"Sorry," Liz said with an embarrassed smile. "It's just... this is how Alexis told Carly that Kristina was Sonny's and I know for sure that the father isn't Ric so..." She shook her head. "Horrible joke really."

Skye laughed. She really laughed. "Can you imagine? Me and Sonny? Oh god. I don't' think I could live with myself." She sobered. "No, not Sonny. I have to say he would be an easier choice for the Quartermaines to deal with though."

Liz covered her mouth. "Oh, no! It's Luke isn't it? Tracy's right!"

Skye gave her a wistful look. "No, as much as I would love to stick it to Tracy that way, it's not Luke. You know, at one time I would have wished for it to be, but that ship has long sailed. And, this is bound to piss Tracy off even more. It's Ned."

"Really?" Liz asked in surprise. "But I thought that that was just a fling, years ago."

Skye shifted and leaned her head back against the wall. "It was. But Ned had been visiting with Kristina, and the day of the blackout he dropped her off with Ric and saw you and Cam and Molly there with them... He saw a real family that he wasn't a part of and it made him sad. And I was feeling sorry for myself, alone. So instead of getting drunk we had sex. Just as destructive and not quite as addictive."

Liz rubbed her chilled arms. She couldn't exactly disagree with the picture Ned saw, but he brought his outsider status on himself by not making Kristina a priority. Then he had rushed out of town just after the blackout and had rarely visited since. "Does he know?"

Skye wiped her eyes. "Oh, yeah, the second he heard about the condoms he called me to let me know that that was what he used. He's been to a couple doctor visits and everything, about as much as you could expect with him so far away. But I want to wait until the baby is born to tell the family. The stress has been bad enough, and I didn't want to risk it. Of course he's probably showed up and run his mouth by now, if he knows about all of this... if he cares."

"Oh, Skye, I'm sure he cares." Liz tried to reassure her. "He wouldn't have called you, or gone to the doctor with you if he didn't care."

Skye laughed bitterly this time. "Well, he has decided that he's staying in New York instead of moving back to be a part of his son's life. He has 'commitments' there. Which basically means that he and Lois are back together and she hates Port Charles. He says he'll visit when he comes to see Kristina."

The doubt in her tone was palpable.

Liz squeezed her hand. "Well, he'll be Krissy's little brother, and Lila's cousin. That means he'll always be part of a family, no matter what the Quartermaines think. And I know Alan will support you."

"Thank you Elizabeth."

"No problem."


	17. Chapter 17

**_Chapter 17_**

When the dust settled, both figuratively and literally, the world was shuffled once again.

Mr. Craig, aka One, was killed in the explosion and Carly was able to sneak in with the rescue crew and find the briefcase. With that Lorenzo, after another day of disorientation, was able to work out a deal to extract himself from his illegal activities in the US and move on with his life and family. Of course he still dealt in arms, but he kept it far away from his home and family.

Alan barely survived the second heart attack he had when there was a shootout as the gunmen released him. He was comatose for days, but he eventually recovered, although his health was permanently compromised and he was unable to resume his post as Chief of Staff at GH.

Maxie ended up bonding with gunman number 3 while trapped in the vault, and helped him sneak away. He eventually returned to town and started up a relationship with Maxie. Lucky saw his now ex-wife with this Cooper Barrett and finally realized that they were really and truly over. Cooper also turned out to be Brenda's nephew by her sister Julia and an unnamed father.

Emily finally gave up on the idea that she and Nikolas would reunite. She was very sad, but Alan had spent time talking with her while he was laid up with his initial heart pains, and made her see that she was trying to force something that wasn't there anymore. She eventually turned to Lucky and they began seeing each other. That helped mend fences with Liz and Nikolas since Emily was no longer focused on interfering with either of their lives.

Sonny and Brenda tried to start again, the trauma of the event bringing them together, but they couldn't make it work. As hard as they tried to get it together, they were just too different after so many years.

Lulu apologized to Alan for suspecting him of framing her mother, and made efforts to find who had really done it. She also got closer to Spinelli and ended her little dating game, choosing the geek who had come to save her.

Robin and Patrick reunited as they realized just how much they meant to each other. Georgie and Dillon pulled together in their worry and used that momentum to move forward as well. Even Tracy and Luke came out of it stronger.

Skye's prediction had been correct. By the time she and Liz were rescued from the fallen elevator Ned was waiting just outside the perimeter for word. He had spilled all to his mother in his worry, and she was beyond livid. She barely waited for Skye to be led from the rubble before she laid into the woman. Unfortunately Skye was just as right about Ned's general attitude. He left town only a day and a half later, right after he was sure that his uncle, cousins and baby would recover fully. He wasn't even there for the birth of Edward James Quartermaine, who everyone called EJ.

Liz and Ric decided to embrace the chance they were given and go forward with their wedding as soon as they could. They had finally gotten things right, no point in wasting their time as a family on formalities.


	18. Chapter 18

**_Chapter 18_**

The wedding was held on the grounds of Wyndemere in May, when the gardens were lush and beautiful. Every relative that the bride and groom had an address for, even those they hated or disliked, were invited, along with most of the city of Port Charles. More than a few people showed up just to see what would happen.

"Tell me again why the hell you dragged me here." Tracy huffed as she settled into the uncomfortable chair that was one of many lined up on either side of the makeshift aisle that ended at the new gazebo that had been put up in the garden in honor of the event.

"Because, wife, Elizabeth is practically family, and she asked me to walk her down the aisle. Not to mention that your granddaughter is a part of this little family and you, as I recall, want to be a part of her life as much as you can. Or was that only for show when you were berating your son for being a deadbeat just like his and Dillon's fathers?" Luke hissed his answer in her ear before he stood to go visit with the bride.

Tracy just huffed and turned her attention to her father, who was sitting next to her watching the children who were trying to sit still for their nannies, which included her own daughter in law to her utter mortification. Skye was also sitting in that area, keeping Kristina still by letting her play with EJ, who was making his first public appearance.

"Just look at that Tracy." He said to her with a somewhat jovial air. "Your grandchildren, together and happy. If only Ned could see it, hmm?" He pointed to where Brooke was standing with Ric and Dillon, who was acting as best man. "Even Brooke managed to come home to be with her little brother in his first days. But I guess Ned is just too busy hmm?"

The barb hit home more than Luke's pointed reminder of her own disappointment with her son. "But, Daddy, Ned is just trying to live up to your sterling example." she shot back, referring to her own childhood of being shuffled out of every room her father entered.

Alan piped up from where he and Monica were seating themselves behind them. "Yes father, Ned is unfortunately following your example instead of learning from it."

"A mistake that we can all say we made ourselves." chided Monica. "None of us have done the best of jobs as parents; we can only hope that our children learn better than we did."

Edward waved them all off, ignoring them in favor of watching Jason enter the room uncomfortably with his daughter and Brenda. "What is that about, do you think?" He asked nobody in particular.

AJ popped his head over to answer. "She dragged Jason since he's friends with Elizabeth and Lila is in the wedding." His attention then focused on where Michael was following his uncle in.

Michael had wrangled permission to attend the wedding from his mother only hours earlier and was feeling rather pleased with himself. He wanted to come see his cousins and he really liked Elizabeth. Carly had only agreed on the condition that he go with Jason, not really thinking that the man would be attending. She hadn't been happy to see him show up on her doorstep with a pained expression on his face and a beaming Brenda on his arm.

Michael made his way immediately to where the other kids were, ignoring Sonny's calls for him as he passed. AJ smirked as his oldest son waved at him before going to sit with Jamie and the others. Sonny scowled.

Robin and Patrick were smiling and holding hands as they chatted with friends from the hospital. Serena Baldwin and her father, who was now in practice with Ric and often had his daughter there after school, were looking around, waiting for Lucy to drop off Tina. Maxie and Cooper were whispering to each other under a nearby tree.

Emily was sitting up front with Lucky. She was sad that Elizabeth didn't ask her to be a part of the wedding, but could understand. She didn't really support her friend remarriage and Georgie and Lulu did, even if they were both just being naive.

Trevor Lansing was sitting with his romantic partner of several years, Kate Howard, and staring daggers at Claudia Zachara. Claudia had managed to get permission to come to the wedding, provided that she stay on Spoon Island for the duration of her stay. Trevor wasn't happy about it, and saw it as further proof that Anthony was losing his grip on reality. Why else would he let that little bitch talk him into anything? John was tucked safely away at the moment, so at least she wasn't poisoning his mind this time.

Trevor didn't realize that John and Claudia were still extremely close, even after being separated for so many years.. For some reason Anthony had never been very vigilant when it came to monitoring Johnny's mail and internet usage. For the most part, as long as Johnny was safely where Anthony thought he should be, doing what he thought he should be doing, he didn't pry much. It was things like running away to stay with Maria's family that set him off.

Of course the old man was batshit crazy, so he may have believed that just sending Claudia away was more than enough to mean the siblings never saw or spoke to each other again.

Sonny turned his attention to Trevor and his date momentarily, thinking that she looked somewhat familiar, but was too disgusted by the man to even look at him. He was only here because he wanted a glimpse at his daughter. Lansing had yet to let him even speak to the girl. At least Jason allowed him to spend an afternoon with Lila here and there, though it wasn't nearly enough. And there they were, both of them, playing like they did it every day, which they probably did. Lila running up to Ric and exclaiming "Papa, look at my pretty dress!" made the mob boss nearly lose his cool all together.

Kristina smiling up at Tracy Quartermaine of all people and calling her Grandma, finally broke his cool and Sonny got up and stalked away

Mac was watching the whole thing from the background, only there to act in an official capacity if things got ugly.

The Webber/Hardy family was sitting together, most of them not knowing the rest of the attendees. Sarah was attempting to get either Lucky or Nikolas' attention, but was getting nowhere since Nikolas was engrossed with his son and the rest of the kids. Tom was telling his mother about Tommy's school while his wife tried to chat with Carolyn, Elizabeth's mother. Steven was catching up with a nurse that he knew from the last time he was in town. Jeff was quietly brooding over the fact that his daughter hadn't even thought to ask him to walk her down the aisle. She had even been surprised that he wanted to do it, which hurt more.

That was leaving out the point that she had been married to the man twice before and he was just hearing about it now. That and that she had a son. Steven had known all about it, but since Carolyn and Jeff had been out of the country, mostly in remote areas for most of the last 10 years and hadn't been in regular contact for the better part of that time, they never really had a chance to know anything about Lizzie's life at all. Sarah didn't seem bothered that Lizzie hadn't spoken to her since she left town last, which made Jeff sad all over again.

There were other people scattered about in chairs and standing groups. Bobby, Mike, staff members from when Elizabeth worked at Kelly's, lawyers, judges, clerks and other people, like Amanda. Considering how many people in town, and on the guest list, couldn't stand Ric it was a pretty good turnout.


	19. Chapter 19

_**AN: **__** Ok. This is the end. It took me forever to get this the way I wanted it, and to decide that this is where I'm ending it. It was going to go on for a while, but my plot lost tons of focus. I'll probably just write smaller fics for the characters in this little universe so I can have fun with everyone. Thanks for reading, sorry it took forever and I love you all.**_

**_Chapter 19_**

Ric was anxious. His father was there along with Sonny and Claudia. He could only hope that they didn't get the chance to speak to each other or there would probably be bloodshed.

"Are you nervous?" Dillon asked from behind him and he turned to smile at the young man and clap him on the back.

"That depends, do you have any good advice for me. Seeing as you're the resident married man." Oddly the young film buff had now been with Georgie longer than most of the couples in town ever lasted.

Dillon ducked his head and ran his hand through his hair with embarrassment. "Just don't give up I guess. Don't let petty jealousy get between you and never let what other people think lead you."

"My, what an eloquent speech for such a young man. I'm sure you'll make some young woman very happy someday." Came a cool, cultured voice from the side. Dillon rolled his eyes and Ric plastered on one of his business smiles.

"Kate, glad you could make it. How are you?" He gave her a perfunctory peck on the cheek. Kate Howard had been involved with his father for nearly 10 years and Ric had never had much use for her beyond seeing a pretty face.

"Richard." She replied smoothly. "Congratulations. Hopefully this will be your last wedding to this particular bride, so I felt it prudent to be here."

Ric ignored the dig. "Kate Howard, let me introduce Dillon Quartermaine, my best man. Dillon's wife is the matron of honor, over there fussing with my daughters' dresses." Ric made a point of mentioning. The smug woman seemed a bit chastised for her assumption and Ric moved on. "Dillon, Kate is a friend of my father."

Dillon nodded. "Oh, you know the baby snatcher. I'm thinking of making a movie based on that you know. I mean, ruthless attorney has an affair with a beautiful single mother and then gives her the ultimatum 'give away your son or you will never see our baby again'. It's gripping. Of course, I'd leave out the part about Sonny being a mob boss and Ric going nuts, but still, I bet I could make a mint."

The babble had its desired effect and Kate turned on her heel and stalked off.

Ric gave Dillon a look, but he just shrugged. "What? I'm not kidding; I bet I could sell that idea for a cool million at least. Of course, it would probably be more of a 'Lifetime: Women in Peril' type of thing, but still."

They were still grinning at each other over it when Nikolas, his only groomsman, came up to them from where he had been speaking with his sister. "Show time."

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate all of this?" Liz asked the room in general as she tried to maneuver herself and her giant puffy dress out of the way to make room for Luke to take his place beside her.

Lulu and Georgie giggled from their opposing corners. They were here to support Liz, but Lulu still resented Gerogie for having everything, including Dillon, and Georgie still held a grudge for the attempt to break them up.

Gerogie didn't like anything about the dingbat blond. She was selfish and manipulative and never satisfied with what she had. Even now that she was dating Spinelli she spent most of her time flirting with other men, notably Logan Hayes who was friends with Maxie's boyfriend. Maxie, for her part seemed to be flirting with him as well, even as she berated Lulu publicly for the way she was treating "Poor Spinelli" by throwing herself at other men. Logan seemed mostly amused by the whole thing, but there was a note of sexual tension between him and Maxie that worried Georgie.

Frankly it was a disaster in the making and Georgie was happy to not be in the middle of it. Her work and school schedule meant that she and Dillon stayed in more than not and she rarely had to deal with the public scenes that accompanied her sister and Lulu wherever they went.

Luke smiled down at the feisty girl he thought of almost as a daughter. "Well, if you hate it so much, let's be sure you don't have to do it again. Or we could run away, right now, just the … well three of us since I'm sure Georgie girl would disprove of my lifestyle. Come on, marriage is overrated, let's go skydiving instead. It's safer."

Liz laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'm good here I think. Besides, if I came I'd have to bring Cam along, and you know how hard to train boys are."

Just then the music started to play. First Lulu made her way out of the French doors, and turned the corner leading to the aisle, then Georgie. Mattie's Nanny gave Cam the go ahead and he took Mattie down the aisle with him, trying not to lose the rings on the way. Next Kristina and Lila flanked Molly and scattered white rose petals from the basket she carried.

There was a pause.

"You ready?" Luke asked as the bridal march began.

"Yeah, let's go." Liz answered him serenely.

Luke turned and made to pull her back through the house and she smacked him lightly and laughed. "Down the Aisle please."

Luke raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." and led her to her groom.

"Who gives this woman to be wed this day?" The judge's voice sounded odd and far away in Liz's ears. Her heart beat fast and her eyes were glued to Ric's.

He was beaming at her so hard his cheeks hurt as he distantly heard Luke say. "Her family and I do… reluctantly….again."

There was a smattering of laughter from their wedding party and the people were closest to them. It was an open joke that they hadn't needed a rehearsal since this was their third wedding.

The judge was one of these people, having officiated at both of their previous weddings as well. "All right. Marriage is the most important ritual, bond, contract, in all of human history. It's the tie that binds not just couples, but families and communities together. It is a commitment meant to last a lifetime and follow us, and those we love, beyond this brief mortal existence. Sometimes though, things, life, people, circumstance, our own failings, shatter that bond and we must forge ahead alone. Hopeful that we can find another love to make us whole again.

Rarely in life do we find our way back to that feeling with the same person. Reforging that tie is harder than making a new one. Sorting through old hurts, finding forgiveness and moving on is so much harder than starting new. It's easier to say, 'hi my name Is Liz' or 'hi my name is Ric' and leave the baggage of that old love behind you than to turn around and trudge through the destruction to find your way back again."

I've married these two twice before. The first time they didn't really know each other. Their hidden depths had yet to really be explored. They married in haste and anticipation, and they were unprepared for just what the other might really have to offer them. The second time they married they were a little wiser. They had traveled the path before and felt sure they could dodge the mines. But, again, they were hasty. They hadn't really dealt properly with the issues that had driven them apart in the first place. They were willfully blind."

Today though, they go into their union with their eyes open. They see the flaws. They see the dangers. They accept the things about themselves and each other that could, and have, come between them. There is no haste, no hurry. And their love is old and battered, but strong. As they take these vows today, new vows they have written to reflect their strength and love, the reforge the link, retie the bond, and move ahead, tempered, stronger than ever before."

There was a short pause as both Liz and Ric retrieved the vows they had written.

Ric cleared his throat. "I vow to you, Elizabeth Imogen Webber, that from this day forward I will protect you and our children above all worldly concerns. I will place your happieness and security above my own foolish schemes. I will never take for granted the love you have given me and my daughters, and I will cherish you and your son the same way. You are my world, and I will never forget that."

There were a few murmurs in the crowd, but noting overt so Mac didn't have to drag anyone out, yet. They still hadn't gotten to the objection part anyway.

Liz wiped a tear from her eye. "I vow to you, Richard Donovan Lansing, to trust in your love. I will never demand proof of your devotion, because I don't need it. I will believe in our family, our bond, and our promises. I will cherish the adoration you have shown me and my son, and I will return it in kind to you and your daughters. You are the man I will love forever, and I'll never let you go."

"Is there anyone present here today who can find sound and unbiased reason why this couple should not be wed?" He barely waited 3 seconds before adding, "And anyone who thinks that they have room to judge."

There was uncomfortable silence and a few shifted chairs as more than one person was forcibly held in their seat by the ununiformed cop who just happened to be seated behind them.

Judge Kyle cleared his throat. "Do you, Richard Donovan, take this woman, Elizabeth Imogen, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, honor and cherish, in good times and bad, never to desert her, as long as you both shall live."

Ric smiled and barely whispered. "I do."

The judge turned to Liz. "Do you, Elizabeth Imogen, take this man, Richard Donovan to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, honor and cherish, in good times and bad, never to desert him, as long as you both shall live."

She turned her head to the crowd, looking into the eyes of those who had tried their hardest to talk her out of this. Her voice was strong and steady. "I do."

"May we have the rings, and first Ric then Liz repeat after me. 'With this ring, I the wed. For the last time, so help me God.'"

Once again there was laughter from the entire wedding party and a few others, including this time Monica and Alan Quartermaine.

Ric smiled and with a much stronger voice this time repeated. "With this ring I thee wed. For the last time so help me God."

This time Liz's voice quavered, but she still loudly pronounced. "With this ring, I thee wed. For the last time so help me God."

Judge Kyle beamed at the crowd. "I now pronounce you husband and wife, for the last time. You may kiss the bride."

The couple kissed briefly to tears and awws from the crowd, but they embraced for some time longer. Eventually, Georgie and Dillon poked each of them and they separated. "Ladies and gentleman, I present to you…again…Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lansing."

There was roaring applause and cat calls from, surprisingly, Scott and Luke, as the happy couple floated back up the aisle and into the future.


End file.
